[wil-duh-beest, vil-] 
[noo, nyoo] 
) gnu. | either of two stocky, oxlike antelopes of the genus Connochaetes, the silver-gray, white-bearded C. taurinus of the eastern African plain and the black, white-tailed C. gnou of central South Africa: recently near extinction, the South African gnu is now protected. |
| gnu (nōō, nyōō) n. Either of two large African antelopes (Connochaetes gnou or C. taurinus) having a drooping mane and beard, a long tufted tail, and curved horns in both sexes. Also called wildebeest. [Probably from Dutch gnoe, from Xhosa i-ngu, white-tailed gnu, from San !nu, black wildebeest.] |
| wil·de·beest (wĭl'də-bēst', vĭl'-) n. pl. wil·de·beests or wildebeest See gnu. [Obsolete Afrikaans : Middle Dutch wild, wild + Middle Dutch beeste, beast (from Old French beste; see beast).] |