Illustration of hippopotamus
hippopotamus
noun
hip·po·pot·a·mus
ˌhi-pə-ˈpä-tə-məs 
plural hippopotamuses or hippopotami
ˌhi-pə-ˈpä-tə-ˌmī
-(ˌ)mē
: any of a family (Hippopotamidae) of very large, four-toed, chiefly aquatic, herbivorous artiodactyl mammals having a very large head and mouth, nearly hairless thick grayish skin, long lower canine teeth, and relatively short legs, and including two living species:
a
: one (Hippopotamus amphibius) of sub-Saharan Africa that has webbing between the toes, spends most of the day in or near water, and typically weighs between 3 to 4 tons (2700 to 3600 kilograms)
Examples of hippopotamus in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Zoo Atlanta didn't get a hippopotamus for Christmas — but another large mammal had a baby, just in time for the holiday.
—
Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 28 Dec. 2023
The roughly 170 hippopotamuses are descended from the four that Escobar illegally imported in the 1980s to live in his private zoo.
—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2023
Colombia began the sterilization of hippopotamuses descended from Pablo Escobar’s pets as part of an effort to control the population of more than 100 of the mammals that roam around unsupervised.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2023
Sitting sentry in an open-top truck next to a waterhole in Kenya’s Masai Mara, Charity Cheruiyot passes me her binoculars to steal a closer look at a hippopotamus hiding under the brown water.
—Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Nov. 2023
And the Heavyweight Champion of the African Wetlands Is…
When push comes to shove, though, this matchup results in a clear winner: the hippopotamus.
—Paul Richards, Field & Stream, 15 Nov. 2023
In a recent video shared by Nature is Metal, the infamous brutality of this prehistoric species is on full display as an absolute monster of a croc chows down on a baby hippopotamus, just a few minutes old.
—Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 12 Oct. 2023
Other winners include a shot taken in South Africa of a hippopotamus appearing to get ready to take a bite out of a heron standing on the back of another hippopotamus.
—Joseph De Avila, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2022
While more stats need to be collected, one study found that the probability of being killed by a hippopotamus attack is in the range of 29% to 87% – higher than that of a grizzly bear attack at 4.8%, shark attack at 22.7% and crocodile attack at 25%.
—Forrest Brown, CNN, 12 Apr. 2023
Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 28 Dec. 2023
The roughly 170 hippopotamuses are descended from the four that Escobar illegally imported in the 1980s to live in his private zoo.
—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2023
Colombia began the sterilization of hippopotamuses descended from Pablo Escobar’s pets as part of an effort to control the population of more than 100 of the mammals that roam around unsupervised.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2023
Sitting sentry in an open-top truck next to a waterhole in Kenya’s Masai Mara, Charity Cheruiyot passes me her binoculars to steal a closer look at a hippopotamus hiding under the brown water.
—Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Nov. 2023
And the Heavyweight Champion of the African Wetlands Is…
When push comes to shove, though, this matchup results in a clear winner: the hippopotamus.
—Paul Richards, Field & Stream, 15 Nov. 2023
In a recent video shared by Nature is Metal, the infamous brutality of this prehistoric species is on full display as an absolute monster of a croc chows down on a baby hippopotamus, just a few minutes old.
—Travis Hall, Field & Stream, 12 Oct. 2023
Other winners include a shot taken in South Africa of a hippopotamus appearing to get ready to take a bite out of a heron standing on the back of another hippopotamus.
—Joseph De Avila, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2022
While more stats need to be collected, one study found that the probability of being killed by a hippopotamus attack is in the range of 29% to 87% – higher than that of a grizzly bear attack at 4.8%, shark attack at 22.7% and crocodile attack at 25%.
—Forrest Brown, CNN, 12 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hippopotamus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hippopotamus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hippopotamus. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hippopotamus
noun
hip·po·pot·a·mus
ˌhip-ə-ˈpät-ə-məs
plural hippopotamuses or hippopotami
-ˌmī
-(ˌ)mē
: a very large mammal of Africa south of the Sahara Desert that spends most of its time in the water, feeds on plants, has an extremely large head and mouth, very thick hairless grayish skin, and short legs with four toes on each foot
also
: a smaller related mammal of western Africa
Etymology
from Latin hippopotamus "hippopotamus," from Greek hippopotamos (same meaning), literally, "river horse," from hippos "horse" and potamos "river"
Word Origin
The ancient Greeks gave the name hippopotamos to a big, barrel-shaped animal they saw in Africa. English, using the Latin spelling hippopotamus, has kept this name. It is a combination of the Greek words hippos, meaning "horse" and potamos, meaning "river." In fact, the hippopotamus is more closely related to the hog than to the horse. However, the "river" in the name is certainly right for an animal that always lives near water and spends most of its time in it. The eyes, ears, and nostrils of a hippopotamus are placed so that the animal can see, hear, and breathe even if most of its head is underwater.
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