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9 results for: estrus
es·trus 
Audio Help [es-truhs] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [es-truhs] Pronunciation Key –noun Zoology.
| 1. | Also, es·trum
Audio Help [es-truhm] Pronunciation Key, oestrus. the period of heat or rut; the period of maximum sexual receptivity of the female. |
| 2. | estrous cycle. |
—Related forms
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
estrus
To learn more about estrus visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| es·trus also oes·trus
Audio Help (ěs'trəs) Pronunciation Key
n. The periodic state of sexual excitement in the female of most mammals, excluding humans, that immediately precedes ovulation and during which the female is most receptive to mating; heat. [New Latin, from Latin oestrus, frenzy, gadfly, from Greek oistros; see eis- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
estrus
1850, from L. oestrus "frenzy, gadfly," from Gk. oistros "gadfly, breeze, sting, mad impulse" (probably cognate with Lith. aistra "violent passion," L. ira "anger"). Earliest Eng. sense is of "frenzied passion;" first attested 1890 with meaning "rut in animals, heat."
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| estrus | |
noun | |
| applies to nonhuman mammals: a state or period of heightened sexual arousal and activity [ant: anestrum] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
| estrus
Audio Help (ěs'trəs) Pronunciation Key
A regularly recurring period in female mammals other than humans during which the animal is sexually receptive. Estrus occurs around the time of ovulation. Also called heat. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
s
tr
s)- The periodic state of sexual excitement in the female of most mammals, excluding humans, that immediately precedes ovulation and during which the female is most receptive to mating; heat.
| The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. |
Main Entry: es·trus
Pronunciation: 'es-tr&s
Variants: or es·trum /-tr&m/ or chiefly British oes·trus
/'E-str&s/ or oes·trum /'E-str&m/
Function: noun
1 a : a regularly recurrent state of sexual excitability during
which the female of most mammals will accept the male and is capable of conceiving : HEAT b : a single
occurrence of this state
2 : ESTROUS CYCLE
| Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc. |
Estrus
Sheep\, n. sing. & pl. [OE. shep, scheep, AS. sc?p, sce['a]p; akin to OFries. sk?p, LG. & D. schaap, G. schaf, OHG. sc[=a]f, Skr. ch[=a]ga. [root]295. Cf. Sheepherd.]1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of ruminants of the genus Ovis, native of the higher mountains of both hemispheres, but most numerous in Asia. Note: The domestic sheep (Ovis aries) varies much in size, in the length and texture of its wool, the form and size of its horns, the length of its tail, etc. It was domesticated in prehistoric ages, and many distinct breeds have been produced; as the merinos, celebrated for their fine wool; the Cretan sheep, noted for their long horns; the fat-tailed, or Turkish, sheep, remarkable for the size and fatness of the tail, which often has to be supported on trucks; the Southdowns, in which the horns are lacking; and an Asiatic breed which always has four horns. 2. A weak, bashful, silly fellow. --Ainsworth. 3. pl. Fig.: The people of God, as being under the government and protection of Christ, the great Shepherd. Rocky mountain sheep.(Zo["o]l.) See Bighorn. Maned sheep. (Zo["o]l.) See Aoudad. Sheep bot (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the sheep botfly. See Estrus. Sheep dog (Zo["o]l.), a shepherd dog, or collie. Sheep laurel (Bot.), a small North American shrub (Kalmia angustifolia) with deep rose-colored flowers in corymbs. Sheep pest (Bot.), an Australian plant (Ac[ae]na ovina) related to the burnet. The fruit is covered with barbed spines, by which it adheres to the wool of sheep. Sheep run, an extensive tract of country where sheep range and graze. Sheep's beard (Bot.), a cichoraceous herb (Urospermum Dalechampii) of Southern Europe; -- so called from the conspicuous pappus of the achenes. Sheep's bit (Bot.), a European herb (Jasione montana) having much the appearance of scabious. Sheep pox (Med.), a contagious disease of sheep, characterixed by the development of vesicles or pocks upon the skin. Sheep scabious. (Bot.) Same as Sheep's bit. Sheep shears, shears in which the blades form the two ends of a steel bow, by the elasticity of which they open as often as pressed together by the hand in cutting; -- so called because used to cut off the wool of sheep. Sheep sorrel. (Bot.), a prerennial herb (Rumex Acetosella) growing naturally on poor, dry, gravelly soil. Its leaves have a pleasant acid taste like sorrel. Sheep's-wool (Zo["o]l.), the highest grade of Florida commercial sponges (Spongia equina, variety gossypina). Sheep tick (Zo["o]l.), a wingless parasitic insect (Melophagus ovinus) belonging to the Diptera. It fixes its proboscis in the skin of the sheep and sucks the blood, leaving a swelling. Called also sheep pest, and sheep louse. Sheep walk, a pasture for sheep; a sheep run. Wild sheep. (Zo["o]l.) See Argali, Mouflon, and O["o]rial.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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