hippopotamus Hear it!

hippopotamus Definition

hippo·pota·mus (hip′ə pätə 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