Definitions for: Deer


[n] distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers



Webster (1913) Definition: Deer (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal,
wild animal, AS. de['o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G.
thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of
unknown origin. [root]71.]
1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Mice and rats, and such small deer. --Shak.

The camel, that great deer. --Lindisfarne
MS.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many
species, and of related genera of the family Cervid[ae].
The males, and in some species the females, have solid
antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually.
Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison.

Note: The deer hunted in England is Cervus elaphus, called
also stag or red deer; the fallow deer is C. dama;
the common American deer is C. Virginianus; the
blacktailed deer of Western North America is {C.
Columbianus}; and the mule deer of the same region is
C. macrotis. See Axis, Fallow deer, Mule deer,
Reindeer.

Note: Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of
a compound; as, deerkiller, deerslayer, deerslaying,
deer hunting, deer stealing, deerlike, etc.

Deer mouse (Zo["o]l.), the white-footed mouse ({Hesperomys
leucopus}) of America.

Small deer, petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used
metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the
first definition, above.) ``Minor critics . . . can find
leisure for the chase of such small deer.'' --G. P. Marsh.

Synonyms: cervid

See Also: Alces alces, American elk, antler, barking deer, brocket, burro deer, Capreolus capreolus, caribou, Cervidae, Cervus canadensis, Cervus elaphus, Cervus nipon, Cervus sika, Cervus unicolor, Dama dama, elaphure, Elaphurus davidianus, elk, European elk, fallow deer, family Cervidae, fawn, flag, Greenland caribou, Japanese deer, moose, Moschus moschiferus, mule deer, muntjac, musk deer, Odocoileus hemionus, Odocoileus Virginianus, pere david's deer, pricket, Rangifer tarandus, red deer, reindeer, roe deer, ruminant, sambar, sambur, scut, sika, Virginia deer, wapiti, white tail, whitetail, whitetail deer, white-tailed deer, withers

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