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hippopotamus Definition

hippo·pota·mus (hip′ə pät′ə məs)

noun pl. hippopotamuses -·a·mus·es, hippopotami -·a·mi′ (-mī′), hippopotamus -·a·mus

any of a family (Hippopotamyidae) of large, plant-eating, artiodactylous mammals with a heavy, thick-skinned, almost hairless body and short legs: they live chiefly in or near rivers in Africa

Etymology: L < Gr hippopotamos, lit., river horse < hippos (see hippo-) + potamos, river, orig., that which goes down < IE base *pet-, to fall, fly > feather, Gr pteryx, wing

hippopotamus Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • huge: We got the shock of our lives as a huge hippopotamus stampeded through before veering off into the night.

Converse of object

  • make: Sb also made a hippopotamus out of dough, and a mummy/cask mask.
  • include: Here organic material, channeled into gravels has yielded fossil mammals including hippopotamus.
  • see: I bet you've never even seen a hippopotamus, much less heard one fart under water.

Converse of subject

  • swallow: An Austrian circus dwarf died recently when he bounced sideways from a trampoline and was swallowed by a hippopotamus.

Modifies a noun

  • tusk: Usually elephant ivory, but also hippopotamus tusk, were used especially among the Congo tribes.

Noun used with modifier

  • pygmy: These forests are home to the forest elephant and the pygmy hippopotamus.
hippopotamus Quotes

I shoot the Hippopotamus With bullets made of platinum, Because if I use the leaden ones His hide is sure to flatten 'em.

—Belloc, (Joseph) Hilaire Pierre

Browse dictionary entries near hippopotamus

  1. ‹ hippopotami
  2. ‹ Hippomenes
  3. ‹ Hippolytus
  4. ‹ Hippolyte
  5. ‹ Hippolyta
  6. ‹ hippogryph
  7. ‹ hippogriff
  8. ‹ hippodrome
  9. ‹ Hippocrene
  10. ‹ Hippocratic oath
  1. hippopotamuses ›
  2. hippos ›
  3. -hippus ›
  4. hippy ›
  5. hipshooter ›
  6. hipshot ›
  7. hipster ›
  8. hirable ›
  9. hiragana ›
  10. Hirakata ›