Trends ofhyena
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hyena
(haɪiːnə)
Word forms: plural hyenas
countable noun
A hyena is an animal that looks rather like a dog and makes a sound which is similar to a human laugh. Hyenas live in Africa and Asia.
hyena in British English
or hyaena (haɪˈiːnə)
noun
any of several long-legged carnivorous doglike mammals of the genera Hyaena and Crocuta, such as C. crocuta (spotted or laughing hyena), of Africa and S Asia: family Hyaenidae, order Carnivora (carnivores)
See also strandwolfDerived forms
hyenic (hyˈenic) or hyaenic (hyˈaenic) adjective
Word origin
C16: from Medieval Latin, from Latin hyaena, from Greek huaina, from hus hoghyena in American English
(haɪˈinə)
noun
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: hyenas feed on carrion and are thought of as cowardly
Word origin
L hyaena < Gr hyaina, hyena, lit., sow (so called from its hoglike mane) < hys, a hog (+ -aina, fem. suffix) < IE base *sū-, hog > swineImage ofhyena
© Aaron Amat, shutterstock