Meaning & use
wild ox
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Meaning
nouncountablebiology
A large undomesticated bovine with horns and a heavy body, such as the gaur, banteng, or the extinct aurochs.
Grammar: The plural of ox is oxen: several wild oxen. It is a broad animal label, not one exact species.
Patterns
- a herd of wild oxen
- wild ox species
- wild ox grazing
The gaur is a powerful wild ox found in parts of South and Southeast Asia.
Museum displays explain how the extinct aurochs, a wild ox, differed from modern cattle.
Word forms
| plural | wild oxen |
|---|
Common combinations
- wild ox species
- Rangers recorded several wild ox species near the reserve boundary.
- herd of wild oxen
- A herd of wild oxen crossed the dry riverbed at dawn.
- extinct wild ox
- The aurochs was an extinct wild ox once common across Europe.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aurochs
- A specific extinct wild ox of Europe and Asia; wild ox is the wider category.
- bovine
- Bovine is the broader animal-family adjective or noun; wild ox points to large wild cattle-like animals.
Word family
Commonly confused: wild ox or buffalo? wild ox or yak?
wild ox vs buffalo
Buffaloes are large bovines too, but they are not usually called oxen in ordinary English.
wild ox vs yak
A yak is a long-haired bovine of high mountains; it is not the general term wild ox.
Practice
What is the plural of wild ox?
Choose one answer.
The irregular plural of ox is oxen, so wild ox becomes wild oxen. Oxes and oxens are nonstandard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wild ox”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.