Illustration of peccary
plural peccaries
: any of several largely nocturnal gregarious American mammals resembling the related pigs: such as
a
: a grizzled animal (Dicotyles tajacu) with an indistinct white collar
b
: a blackish animal (Tayassu pecari) with a whitish mouth region
Examples of peccary in a Sentence
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Creatures people see regularly include bobcats, gray foxes, mule deer, coyotes, reptiles (though not in winter), and collared peccaries, which resemble small pigs and travel around in little family groups eating cacti.
—
Carrie Dennis, Travel + Leisure, 31 Dec. 2024
Two other species of peccary, the white-lipped and the Chacoan peccary, have distributions across central and northern South America and aren’t included in this proposal largely because their distribution doesn’t extend into what’s commonly understood to be continental North America.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 11 Dec. 2024
Jaguars also eat peccaries, capybaras, pacas, agoutis, deer, opossum, rabbits, armadillos, caimans, turtles and livestock, depending on their habitat.
—Zach Bradshaw, The Arizona Republic, 17 Dec. 2024
The expansion of the records program extends only to the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which is native to the Southwest and commonly called javelina.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 11 Dec. 2024
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Carrie Dennis, Travel + Leisure, 31 Dec. 2024
Two other species of peccary, the white-lipped and the Chacoan peccary, have distributions across central and northern South America and aren’t included in this proposal largely because their distribution doesn’t extend into what’s commonly understood to be continental North America.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 11 Dec. 2024
Jaguars also eat peccaries, capybaras, pacas, agoutis, deer, opossum, rabbits, armadillos, caimans, turtles and livestock, depending on their habitat.
—Zach Bradshaw, The Arizona Republic, 17 Dec. 2024
The expansion of the records program extends only to the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which is native to the Southwest and commonly called javelina.
—Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 11 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for peccary
Cite this Entry
“Peccary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peccary. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
peccary
noun
pec·ca·ry
ˈpek-ə-rē 
plural peccaries
: either of two American mammals of warm regions that gather in herds, are active usually at night, and look like but are much smaller than the related pigs
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