rhinoceros
rhinoceros
Definition
rhi·noc·eros (rī näs′ər əs)
noun pl. -·oses or -·os
any of a family (Rhinocerotidae) of large, heavy, thick-skinned, plant-eating, perissodactylous mammals of tropical Africa and Asia, with one or two upright horns on the snout
Etymology: ME rinoceros < L rhinoceros < Gr rhinokerōs, lit., nose-horned < rhis (see rhino-) + keras, horn
rhi·noc′·er·ot′ic (-ät′ik) adjective
rhinoceros
Usage Examples
Converse of object
- include: Report on a brief survey of the wildlife resources of Nepal, including the rhinoceros.
- see: I have never seen a rhinoceros or kangaroo on the A9.
- charge: What would you do if faced by a charging rhinoceros, Mr. G__ ?
- live: There are 5 types of living rhinoceroses - 2 in Africa and 3 in south Asia.
- do: The Politics Companion by Editor Daisy Sampson Normal Price £ 9.99 In which country did a rhinoceros win an election?
- have: In place of a dead boy we have a rhinoceros.
Adjective modifier
- one-horned: Atop an elephant in the jungle, go in search of the elusive Royal Bengal tiger and the one-horned rhinoceros.
- Sumatran: Asian elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, orangutan, and tiger populations are all declining because palm oil plantations are encroaching on their habitats.
- wooly: This deposit covers large areas of the Downs and coastal plain, and occasionally yields remains of mammoth and wooly rhinoceros.
- Indian: The other differential feature is the neck fold: in the great Indian rhinoceros it does not continue across the back.
- black: The crater is home to enormous quantities of wild game and birds, including the rare black rhinoceros.
- white: Africa's white rhinoceros also appears stable at much higher numbers than the black rhino.
Modifies a noun
- horn: By the Tang dynasty, rhinoceros horn cups were given to scholars who were successful in their examinations.
- beetle: Rhinoceros beetles can grow to well over 4 inches in length.
- population: In the past 30 years, poaching has reduced Kenya's black rhinoceros population from 20,000 to a mere 400.
- hornbill: We returned at dusk and watched a magnificent rhinoceros hornbill fly in to roost.
- sanctuary: Rhinoceros sanctuary proposed Plans are being prepared to set up a sanctuary for rhinoceros with the financial support of the American Ford Foundation.
- today: One recalls Auden's lines " The mouse you banished yesterday / Is an enraged rhinoceros today.
rhinoceros Quotes
For an actress to be a success she must have the face of Venus, the brains of Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, thememoryof Macaulay, thefigure of Juno, and thehide of a rhinoceros.
Browse dictionary entries near rhinoceros
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- rhinencephalon
- Rhineland-Palatinate
- Rhineland
- Rhine wine
- Rhine Province
- Rhine
- rhinoceros beetle
- rhinolaryngology
- rhinology
- rhinopharyngitis
- rhinoplasty
- rhinorrhea
- rhinoscope
- rhinovirus
- rhizo-
- rhizobium
