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bobcat

American  
[bob-kat] / ˈbɒbˌkæt /

noun

plural

bobcats,

plural

bobcat

  1. a North American wildcat, Lynx rufus, ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico, having a brownish coat with black spots.

bobcat British  
/ ˈbɒbˌkæt /

noun

  1. Also called: bay lynx.  a North American feline mammal, Lynx rufus , closely related to but smaller than the lynx, having reddish-brown fur with dark spots or stripes, tufted ears, and a short tail

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bobcat

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; bob(tail) + cat ( def. )

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

You might spot wildlife as you head up, including bobcat, deer, owls, foxes and if lucky, a mountain lion, Hartman said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2026

OK, yes, maybe you still have questions about the bobcat pee thing.

From Slate • Nov. 14, 2024

Things get weirder and more delightful with a bobcat and bear band, where instruments are fashioned out of logs and vegetation, and later some Afro-Cuban frogs jamming out with acorns.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2024

If you saw a red-tailed hawk injured after colliding with an office window, or a bobcat hit by a car, what would you do?

From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2024

What did he hear that made him know something unexpected had happened some two miles—perhaps more—away, and that that something was a different kind of prey, a bobcat?

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.