[hahy-ee-nuh] 
| a doglike carnivore of the family Hyaenidae, of Africa, southwestern Asia, and south central Asia, having a coarse coat, a sloping back, and large teeth and feeding chiefly on carrion, often in packs. |
[hahy-ee-nahyn, -nin] , adjective | hy·ae·na (hī-ē'nə) n. Variant of hyena. |
| hy·e·na also hy·ae·na (hī-ē'nə) n. Any of several carnivorous mammals of the family Hyaenidae of Africa and Asia, which feed as scavengers and have powerful jaws, relatively short hind limbs, and coarse hair. [Middle English hiena, from Old French hiene, from Latin hyaena, from Greek huaina, feminine of hūs, swine (from its bristly mane like a hog's); see sū- in Indo-European roots.] |