Meaning & use
lynx
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A medium-sized wild cat with tufted ears, a very short tail, and thick fur, living in northern forests across Europe, Asia, and North America.
Grammar: Countable; the plural is lynx or lynxes, with 'lynx' common after a number.
Patterns
- a lynx hunts
- a pair of lynx
- the lynx population
A lynx padded silently across the snow, its tufted ears visible against the trees.
Rabbits form most of the diet of the Canada lynx.
Conservationists are working to increase the number of Iberian lynx in the wild.
Word forms
| plural | lynx or lynxes |
|---|
Common combinations
- Canada lynx
- The Canada lynx has large paws that work like snowshoes.
- Iberian lynx
- The Iberian lynx was once the rarest cat in the world.
- lynx fur
- Its thick lynx fur keeps the animal warm in deep winter.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bobcat
- The bobcat is the smaller North American relative; 'lynx' covers the wild cat group and the Eurasian type.
Commonly confused: lynx or links?
lynx vs links
Lynx (the wild cat) and links (connections, or a golf course) sound identical in many accents but differ in spelling and meaning.
Practice
The ____ is a wild cat famous for its tufted ears and short tail.
Choose one answer.
The lynx is the wild cat with ear tufts and a stubby tail. A moose is a large deer, and otters and badgers are quite different animals without tufted ears.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lynx”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.