Adjacent Words

Reindeer definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REINDEER, n.
A species of the cervine genus; more correctly written ranedeer, or rather rane, which is the true name.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called `reindeer' in Eurasia and `caribou' in North America [syn: caribou, reindeer, Greenland caribou, Rangifer tarandus]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English reindere, from Old Norse hreinn reindeer + Middle English deer animal, deer Date: 14th century caribou — used especially for one of the Old World

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. same or reindeers) a subarctic deer, Rangifer tarandus, of which both sexes have large antlers, used domestically for drawing sledges and as a source of milk, flesh, and hide. Phrases and idioms: reindeer moss an arctic lichen, Cladonia rangiferina, with short branched stems growing in clumps. Etymology: ME f. ON hreind|ri f. hreinn reindeer + d|r DEER

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reindeer Rein"deer` (r?n"d?r), n. [Icel. hreinn reindeer + E. deer. Icel. hreinn is of Lapp or Finnish origin; cf. Lappish reino pasturage.] [Formerly written also raindeer, and ranedeer.] (Zool.) Any ruminant of the genus Rangifer, of the Deer family, found in the colder parts of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and having long irregularly branched antlers, with the brow tines palmate. Note: The common European species (R. tarandus) is domesticated in Lapland. The woodland reindeer or caribou (R. caribou) is found in Canada and Maine (see Caribou.) The Barren Ground reindeer or caribou (R. Gr[oe]nlandicus), of smaller size, is found on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, in both hemispheries. Reindeer moss (Bot.), a gray branching lichen (Cladonia rangiferina) which forms extensive patches on the ground in arctic and even in north temperature regions. It is the principal food of the Lapland reindeer in winter. Reindeer period (Geol.), a name sometimes given to a part of the Paleolithic era when the reindeer was common over Central Europe.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(reindeer) A reindeer is a deer with large horns called antlers that lives in northern areas of Europe, Asia, and America. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Cape elk, Siberian husky, Virginia deer, antelope, ass, beast of burden, buck, camel, camelopard, caribou, deer, deerlet, doe, draft animal, dromedary, eland, elephant, elk, fallow deer, fawn, gazelle, giraffe, gnu, hart, hartebeest, hind, horse, husky, kaama, llama, malamute, moose, mule, mule deer, musk deer, okapi, ox, pack horse, red deer, roe, roe deer, roebuck, sledge dog, springbok, stag, sumpter, sumpter horse, sumpter mule, wildebeest