Hyena Definition

hīēnə
hyenas
noun
hyenas
Any of various wolflike carnivores (family Hyaenidae) of Africa and Asia, with powerful jaws, a bristly mane, short hind legs, and a characteristic shrill cry suggestive of laughter: hyenas are hunters and scavengers.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Hyena

Noun

Singular:
hyena
Plural:
hyen, hyenae, hyenas

Origin of Hyena

  • Middle English hiena from Old French hiene from Latin hyaena from Greek huaina feminine of hūs swine (from its bristly mane like a hog's) sū- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Old French hyene, from Latin hyaena, from Ancient Greek ὕαινα (huaina).

    From Wiktionary

Hyena Sentence Examples

  • The striped hyena is scattered over the country sparsely.

  • There are also within these coverts several varieties of wild animals, such as the tiger, leopard, hyena, wild boar, nilgai and jackal.

  • Other animals fairly numerous are the spotted hyena, long-eared fox, jackal, aard wolf, red lynx, wild cat, wild dog and wart hog.

  • Animals present included red deer, roe deer, horse, boar, bear, wolf, elephant, rhinoceros, lion and hyena !

  • He was startled by a nightmare in which he saw a hyena chewing his leg.

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