hip·po·pot·a·mus

(hĭp′ə-pŏt′ə-məs)

n. pl. hip·po·pot·a·mus·es or hip·po·pot·a·mi (-mī′)

1. A large, chiefly aquatic African herbivorous mammal (Hippopotamus amphibius) having thick, dark, almost hairless skin, short legs with four toes, and a broad, wide-mouthed muzzle. Also called river horse.

2. The pygmy hippopotamus.

[Latin, from Greek hippopotamos : hippos, horse; see ekwo- in Indo-European roots + potamos, river; see pet- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hippopotamus

(ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs)

n, pl -muses or -mi (-ˌmaɪ)

1. (Animals) a very large massive gregarious artiodactyl mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, living in or around the rivers of tropical Africa: family Hippopotamidae. It has short legs and a thick skin sparsely covered with hair

2. (Animals) pigmy hippopotamus a related but smaller animal, Choeropsis liberiensis

[C16: from Latin, from Greek hippopotamos river horse, from hippos horse + potamos river]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hip•po•pot•a•mus

(ˌhɪp əˈpɒt ə məs)

n., pl. -mus•es, -mi (-ˌmaɪ)

a large African mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, with a hairless, thick body and short legs, living in and alongside rivers.

[1555–65; < Latin < Greek hippopótamos, earlier híppos potámios literally, riverine horse (term used by Herodotus in his account of the Egyptian hippopotamus)]

hip`po•po•tam′ic (-pəˈtæm ɪk) hip`po•po•ta′mi•an (-ˈteɪ mi ən) adj.

hip·po·pot·a·mus

(hĭp′ə-pŏt′ə-məs)

A large, chiefly aquatic African mammal having a barrel-shaped body, thick skin, short legs with four toes, and a wide-mouthed muzzle. Because its skin loses water quickly when exposed to the air, the hippopotamus must spend the day in water. It feeds at night on land grasses. See Note at rhinoceros.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

hippopotamus - massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa

Hippopotamus amphibius, river horse, hippo

artiodactyl, artiodactyl mammal, even-toed ungulate - placental mammal having hooves with an even number of functional toes on each foot

genus Hippopotamus - type genus of the Hippopotamidae

Translations

فَرَس البَحْرفَرَسُ النَّهْر

хипопотам

hroch

flodhest

virtahepo

nilski konj

víziló

flóðhesturflóîhestur

ippopotamo

カバ

하마

hippopotamus

hipopotamas

nīlzirgs

hroch

povodni konj

flodhäst

kiboko

ฮิปโปโปเตมัส

su aygırıhipopotam

con hà mã

河马

hippopotamus

[ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs] N (hippopotamuses or hippopotami (pl)) [ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəmaɪ] N → hipopótamo/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hippopotamus

[ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs] [hippopotamuses] (pl) [hippopotami] [ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəmaɪ] (pl) n → hippopotame m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hippopotamus

n pl <-es or hippopotami> → Nilpferd nt, → Flusspferd nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

hippopotamus

[ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs] n (hippopotamuses or hippopotami (pl)) [ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəmaɪ] → ippopotamo

hippopotamus

(hipəˈpotəməs) noun

a large African animal with very thick skin living in or near rivers.

hippopotamus

→ فَرَسُ النَّهْر hroch flodhest Nilpferd ιπποπόταμος hipopótamo virtahepo hippopotame nilski konj ippopotamo カバ 하마 nijlpaard flodhest hipopotam hipopótamo гиппопотам flodhäst ฮิปโปโปเตมัส hipopotam con hà mã 河马

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Smith, two others, the hippopotamus, the giraffe, the bos caffer -- as large as a full-grown bull, and the elan -- but little less, two zebras, and the quaccha, two gnus, and several antelopes even larger than these latter animals.

View in context

Pava, a perfect beauty, huge as a hippopotamus, with her back turned to them, prevented their seeing the calf, as she sniffed her all over.

View in context

In the great Zoological Gardens we found specimens of all the animals the world produces, I think, including a dromedary, a monkey ornamented with tufts of brilliant blue and carmine hair--a very gorgeous monkey he was-- a hippopotamus from the Nile, and a sort of tall, long-legged bird with a beak like a powder horn and close-fitting wings like the tails of a dress coat.

View in context

Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at first she thought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus, but then she remembered how small she was now, and she soon made out that it was only a mouse that had slipped in like herself.

View in context

"He thought he saw a Banker's Clerk Descending from the bus: He looked again, and found it was A Hippopotamus:

View in context

Its head and mouth are similar in appearance to those of a hippopotamus, except that from the sides of the lower jawbone two mighty horns curve slightly downward toward the front.

View in context

"Now if only a hippopotamus could fly up in the air out of that bush, or you preserved flying elephants on the estate, why, then--"

View in context

She took from the window some specimen or other of natural history,--her eyes being too dim with moisture to inform her accurately whether it was a rabbit or a hippopotamus,--put it into the child's hand as a parting gift, and went her way.

View in context

Its head and mouth are more similar in appearance to those of a hippopotamus than to any other earthly animal, except that from the sides of the lower jawbone two mighty horns curve slightly downward toward the front.

View in context

"Well," said Sir Henry, as we sat down, having first lit a lamp of the sort used by the Kukuanas, of which the wick is made from the fibre of a species of palm leaf, and the oil from clarified hippopotamus fat, "well, I feel uncommonly inclined to be sick."

View in context

He found pleasure in watching the ungainly antics of Duro, the hippopotamus, and keen sport in tormenting the sluggish crocodile, Gimla, as he basked in the sun.

View in context

'He said he WOULD come in,' the White Queen went on, 'because he was looking for a hippopotamus. Now, as it happened, there wasn't such a thing in the house, that morning.'

View in context