: any of a small genus (Oryx) of large heavily built African and Arabian antelopes that have a light-colored coat with dark conspicuous markings especially on the face compare gemsbok
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Each evening the hotel arranges a desert safari in a 4x4 that takes you over the sand dunes to spot the desert’s elusive oryx and native gazelles.—Angelina Villa-Clarke, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025 Texas wildlife centers have actively worked to reintroduce this oryx into its native regions.—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Sep. 2024 By extracting and studying DNA from the hairs, scientists determined the two lions feasted on giraffe, waterbuck, zebra, oryx, wildebeest—and, yes, several humans.—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Oct. 2024 Operation Oryx was a 1962 international expedition to capture, breed and then reintroduce some of Arabia's few remaining wild oryx that had been threatened by trophy hunting, habitat destruction and the expansion of the oil industry.—Joan Meiners, USA TODAY, 11 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for oryx
Word History
Etymology
New Latin, from Latin, a gazelle, from Greek, pickax, antelope, kind of whale, from oryssein to dig; akin to Latin runcare to grub up, weed, Sanskrit luñcati he plucks
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