Meaning & use
goat
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Meanings
nouncountable
A hardy, horned farm animal kept for its milk, meat and hair, known for climbing and eating almost anything.
Grammar: Countable: one goat, many goats.
Patterns
- a herd of goats
- goat's milk
The farmer keeps a small herd of goats on the hillside.
We bought fresh goat cheese from the market.
A young goat is called a kid.
nounsingularslanginformal
Used in the form GOAT as a slang term for a person regarded as the best ever in their field.
Grammar: Usually written GOAT and used with the: he is the GOAT.
Patterns
- the GOAT
- the GOAT of something
Many fans call her the GOAT of women's tennis.
Who is the GOAT of basketball?
He wore a T-shirt that simply said GOAT.
nouncountableinformalold-fashionedBritish
A silly or foolish person, used mostly in British speech as a mild insult among friends.
Grammar: Often appears in the phrase silly goat or old goat.
Patterns
- a silly goat
- an old goat
Don't be such a silly goat, you'll catch cold.
He's a dear old goat, but he forgets everything.
I felt like a proper goat when I left my keys in the door.
Word forms
| plural | goats |
|---|
Common combinations
- herd of goats
- A herd of goats blocked the mountain road.
- goat cheese
- She added crumbled goat cheese to the salad.
- goat's milk
- Goat's milk is easier to digest for some people.
- get someone's goat
- His constant humming really gets my goat.
- the GOAT
- Fans call him the GOAT of the sport.
- billy goat
- The billy goat butted the gate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- legend
- Legend is a wider word for someone admired for great achievements, and it is less competitive than the GOAT, which claims the single best.
- icon
- Icon suggests lasting fame and cultural importance, not necessarily the highest skill.
- champion
- Champion means someone who actually won a title, while the GOAT is a matter of opinion.
Word family
Commonly confused: goat or sheep?
goat vs sheep
Sheep have woolly coats and are kept mostly for wool and meat, while goats have coarse hair, horns that curve back and a lively, climbing nature.
Practice
Fans call the player the GOAT, which means they consider him ___.
Choose one answer.
In slang, GOAT stands for greatest of all time. A very silly person is an older British sense of goat, which does not match fans praising a player.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “goat”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.