wildebeest

noun

wil·​de·​beest ˈwil-də-ˌbēst How to pronounce wildebeest (audio)
plural wildebeests also wildebeest
: either of two large African antelopes (Connochaetes gnou and C. taurinus) with a head like that of an ox, short mane, long tail, and horns in both sexes that curve downward and outward

called also gnu

Illustration of wildebeest

Illustration of wildebeest

Examples of wildebeest in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Researchers Lillian Spencer and Eric Scott also studied the ways horse teeth and those of bighorn sheep were worn down differently from different foods, and concluded that their diets were much like those of the wildebeests and zebras of the modern African Serengeti. Michael Ray Taylor, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 May 2025 If the narwhal tusk, a tightly spiraling tooth than can grow up to nine feet in length, was not in fact from a unicorn, then perhaps the horn of the southern African wildebeest or gnu was what the ancients meant by a unicorn—never mind that these are actually two-horned. Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 5 Apr. 2025 Some previous studies have indeed shown that cattle can compete for grass with wild herbivores such as wildebeests, impalas, Thomson’s gazelles, zebras, buffalo, and giraffes. Bygeoffrey Kamadi, science.org, 10 Sep. 2024 Lilliputian lions, whose wildebeests are passing butterflies. Jessica Camille Aguirre, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for wildebeest

Word History

Etymology

Afrikaans wildebees, from wilde wild + bees ox

First Known Use

circa 1824, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wildebeest was circa 1824

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Cite this Entry

“Wildebeest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wildebeest. Accessed 24 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

wildebeest

noun
wil·​de·​beest ˈwil-də-ˌbēst How to pronounce wildebeest (audio)
plural wildebeest also wildebeest
: either of two large African antelopes with a head like that of an ox, a short mane, a long tail, and horns that curve downward and outward

called also gnu

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