coy·o·te

(kī-ō′tē, kī′ōt′)

1. A wolflike carnivorous mammal (Canis latrans) of North and Central America, having grayish-brown or yellowish fur, large erect ears, and a drooping bushy tail. Also called prairie wolf.

2. A firefighter who is sent to battle remote, usually very severe forest fires, often for days at a time.

3. Slang A person who smuggles undocumented immigrants into the United States, especially across the Mexican border.

[American Spanish, from Nahuatl cóyotl : coyō-, coyote (from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *k^wa, coyote; compare O'odham ban and Serrano (Uto-Aztecan language of the San Bernardino Mountains) wahei, coyote, and Hopi k^wew, wolf) + -tl, unpossessed singular noun suffix.]

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.

coyote

(ˈkɔɪəʊt; kɔɪˈəʊt; kɔɪˈəʊtɪ)

n, pl -otes or -ote

1. (Animals) Also called: prairie wolf a predatory canine mammal, Canis latrans, related to but smaller than the wolf, roaming the deserts and prairies of North America

2. (Non-European Myth & Legend) (in Native American legends of the West) a trickster and culture hero represented as a man or as an animal

[C19: from Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl coyotl]

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

coy•o•te

(kaɪˈoʊ ti, ˈkaɪ oʊt)

n., pl. -tes, (esp. collectively) -te.

1. a wolflike, medium-sized North American canid, Canis latrans.

2. Slang. a person who smuggles Latin Americans into the U.S. for a fee.

[1825–35; earlier cuiota, cayota < Mexican Spanish coyote < Nahuatl coyōtl]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	coyote - small wolf native to western North America brush wolf, Canis latrans, prairie wolf wolf - any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs coydog - offspring of a coyote and a dog
	2.	coyote - someone who smuggles illegal immigrants into the United States (usually across the Mexican border) contrabandist, moon curser, moon-curser, runner, smuggler - someone who imports or exports without paying duties
	3.	coyote - a forest fire fighter who is sent to battle remote and severe forest fires (often for days at a time) fire warden, forest fire fighter, ranger - an official who is responsible for managing and protecting an area of forest

Translations

kojot

prærieulv

kojootti

prérifarkas

coyote

[kɔɪˈəʊtɪ] N → coyote m

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

coyote

[kaɪˈəʊti kɔɪˈəʊti] n → coyote m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

coyote

n → Kojote m

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

coyote

[kɔɪˈəʊtɪ] n → coyote m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

After a good deal of fruitless argument the question was referred for decision to a passing Coyote, who was a bit of a demagogue and desirous to stand well with both.

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Not a sound is to be heard, save when they give vent to a wonderful imitation of the lonely call of the coyote. The cry is answered by other braves; and some of them do it even better than the coyotes, who are not very good at it.

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How long afterward he did not know, he was awakened by the yapping bark of a young coyote. As he looked about and located it on the brow of the hill behind him, he noted the change that had come over the face of the night.

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For a moment there was silence; then, from somewhere among the pines, came the snarling yelp of a coyote; and simultaneously the door rattled in its frame.

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His father was a coyote and his mother was a wild-cat.

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Was it a coyote calling, or had he indeed heard the moan of a dying man, somewhere back amongst that dark, gloomy jungle?

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The coyote skulks among the scrub, the buzzard flaps heavily through the air, and the clumsy grizzly bear lumbers through the dark ravines, and picks up such sustenance as it can amongst the rocks.

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There were no carpets, and on the hardwood floor he caught a glimpse of several wolf and coyote skins.

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Once they saw a coyote slide into the brush, and once Billy wished for a gun when a large wildcat stared at them malignantly and declined to run until routed by a clod of earth that burst about its ears like shrapnel.

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Presently, in one of those sobbing intervals between the blasts, the coyotes tuned up with their whining howl; one, two, three, then all together--to tell us that winter was coming.

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Bassett remembered that at the time, in lucid moments, he had likened himself to a wounded bull pursued by plains' coyotes too cowardly to battle with him for the meat of him, yet certain of the inevitable end of him when they would be full gorged.

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The traits and lairs of the domestic cats gone wild he also learned, as did he learn the wild loves of mountain farm-dogs with the free-roving coyotes.

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