GOAT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Goat mean? 

• GOAT (noun)
  The noun GOAT has 4 senses:

1. any of numerous agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns

2. a victim of ridicule or pranks

3. (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Capricorn

4. the tenth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about December 22 to January 19

  Familiarity information: GOAT used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GOAT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of numerous agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

caprine animal; goat

Hypernyms ("goat" is a kind of...):

bovid (hollow-horned ruminants)

Meronyms (parts of "goat"):

horn (one of the bony outgrowths on the heads of certain ungulates)

beard (hairy growth on or near the face of certain mammals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "goat"):

kid (young goat)

billy; billy goat; he-goat (male goat)

nanny; nanny-goat; she-goat (female goat)

Capra hircus; domestic goat (any of various breeds of goat raised for milk or meat or wool)

wild goat (undomesticated goat)

Holonyms ("goat" is a member of...):

Capra; genus Capra (goats)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A victim of ridicule or pranks

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

butt; goat; laughingstock; stooge

Hypernyms ("goat" is a kind of...):

dupe; victim (a person who is tricked or swindled)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "goat"):

April fool (the butt of a prank played on April 1st)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Capricorn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Capricorn; Goat

Hypernyms ("Goat" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain category:

astrology; star divination (a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The tenth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about December 22 to January 19

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Capricorn; Capricorn the Goat; Goat

Instance hypernyms:

house; mansion; planetary house; sign; sign of the zodiac; star sign ((astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided)

 Context examples 

Gretel presents Hans with a young goat.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Food made from the milk of some mammals, most commonly cows, goats and sheep.

(Dairy Product, NCI Thesaurus)

Were we a troop of mountain goats we might do so, answered Sir William Felton, but it is not to be passed by a company of horsemen.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"The Transcontinental crowd were nanny-goats, but you fellows are a lot of prize-fighters."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There a bare-legged shepherd, in wooden shoes, pointed hat, and rough jacket over one shoulder, sat piping on a stone while his goats skipped among the rocks or lay at his feet.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The more usual victims are a white cock, which is plucked in pieces alive, or a black goat, whose throat is cut and body burned.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Theer's where I killed my first goat.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Taxonomic family which includes domestic cattle, goats, and sheep.

(Bovidae, NCI Thesaurus)

B. melitensis is found in goats and sheep and is pathogenic to these species as well as causes brucellosis in humans.

(Brucella melitensis, NCI Thesaurus)

It affects animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats more often than people.

(Anthrax, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)