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Synonyms

ox

1 American  
[oks] / ɒks /

noun

plural

oxen, oxes

  1. the adult castrated male of the genus Bos, used chiefly as a draft animal.

  2. any member of the bovine family.

  3. Informal. a clumsy, stupid fellow.

ox- 2 American  
Chemistry.

  1. a combining form meaning “containing oxygen”.

    oxazine.
Ox. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. Oxford.

ox British  
/ ɒks /

noun

  1. an adult castrated male of any domesticated species of cattle, esp Bos taurus, used for draught work and meat

  2. any bovine mammal, esp any of the domestic cattle

"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

Usage

Plural word for ox The plural form of ox is oxen. This is one of the few remaining irregular nouns whose plural  derives directly from its original pluralization in Old English. A similar change is made when pluralizing woman (women), man (men), and child (children). In some rare instances, ox is pluralized in the more conventional fashion as oxes, but this form is often considered incorrect and should be avoided.

Other Word Forms

  • oxlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of ox1

First recorded before 900; Middle English oxe, Old English oxa; cognate with Old Frisian oxa, Old Saxon, Old High German ohso, Old Norse uxi, oxi; akin to Welsh ych

Origin of ox-2

Short for oxygen

Origin of Ox.3

From the Medieval Latin word Oxonia

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.