river-horse

A form of river horse — A hippopotamus.

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Meanings

nounriver-horse (plural river-horses)

plural river-horses

  1. alternativeAlternative form of river horse.

    Liverpool started and snorted like a river-horse roused amongst his reeds by thunder.

    1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “The Winding-up”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 303
    2 more examples

    The river-horse feeds upon the herbage of the Nile, and the behemoth is said to eat grass like an ox.

    1808, Thomas Shaw, Travels Or Observations

    “I am waited for in Egypt,” answered the Swallow. “To-morrow my friends will fly up to the Second Cataract. The river-horse couches there among the bulrushes, and on a great granite throne sits the God Memnon.”

    1888, Oscar Wilde, “The Happy Prince”, in The Happy Prince and Other Tales, London: Duckworth, published 1928, page 25
Cite this entry
APA

river-horse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/river-horse

MLA

“river-horse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/river-horse. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “river-horse,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/river-horse.

Source: river-horse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.