antlers

Meanings

1. 1nounplural

   The pair of hard, branched growths on the head of a male deer, elk, or moose.

   Grammar: Usually plural because deer have two; the singular antler is used for one side or one branch.

   Patterns

   • a pair of antlers
   • a set of antlers
   • have antlers
   • grow antlers

   The stag lowered its head, and its antlers caught the sunlight.

   We found a pair of antlers in the woods after the deer had shed them.

   Male deer grow new antlers every year.

2. 2nouncountable

   One single branched growth on the head of a deer, elk, or moose.

   Grammar: Use the singular antler for one side or one branch; the plural antlers refers to both together.

   Patterns

   • a broken antler
   • one antler
   • an antler
   • the left antler

   One antler was broken, so the stag looked a little uneven.

   The museum displays a single antler from a prehistoric deer.

   He carved the handle from a piece of antler.

Word forms

Common combinations

a pair of antlers

A pair of antlers hung above the fireplace.

shed antlers

Deer shed their antlers in late winter.

branched antlers

The elk had wide, branched antlers.

grow antlers

Only the males grow antlers in most deer species.

antler velvet

During the summer the antlers are covered in soft antler velvet.

Synonyms and how they differ

horns

Use horns for the permanent, unbranched growths on cattle, goats, and antelopes; antlers are branched and are shed and regrown each year.

Word family

antlered adjective

Having antlers, as in an antlered stag.

antlerless adjective

Without antlers, used especially in hunting rules for deer.

Commonly confused: antlers or horns?

Practice

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