musk deer

noun

: any of a genus (Moschus) of small heavy-limbed hornless deer of central Asian uplands with tusked musk-producing males

Examples of musk deer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Male musk deer compete with each other every mating season by fighting with their fangs. —Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 June 2023

Oddly, given the inhospitable terrain and the limited economic importance of an area whose main exports were wool, salt, and the scent glands of musk deer, the Himalayas have been historically a place where empires have collided, and invaders from Mongols to Maoists have flocked over the centuries. —Richard Schiffman, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Nov. 2022

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has confirmed the presence of the Kashmir musk deer, a species not seen in more than half a century, in the Nuristan region of Afghanistan. —The Editors, Outside Online, 6 Nov. 2014

Over the past fifty years, there have been efforts in China to raise the endangered Alpine musk deer (Moschus sifanicus) on farms. —Mallory Locklear, Discover Magazine, 12 Oct. 2014

Siberian Ibex wander here, along with musk deer feeding on the lichenous rocks and brown bears that follow the retreating snow fields in spring. —Paul Cooper, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2018

By the beginning of this century, however, musk deer populations had been hunted to precariously low levels, and the animal had disappeared altogether across large parts of its original Himalayan range. —Mallory Locklear, Discover Magazine, 12 Oct. 2014

In its earliest form, musk was made from natural secretions of the male musk deer, says François-Raphaël Balestra, principal perfumer and director of New Ingredients Discovery at Swiss fragrance house Firmenich. —ELLE, 30 Apr. 2022

Not everyone is optimistic about the musk deer’s future. —The Editors, Outside Online, 6 Nov. 2014

Word History

First Known Use

1673, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for musk deer

• adhere
• ameer
• amir
• appear
• arrear
• astir
• austere
• career
• cashier
• cohere
• compere
• emir

Kids Definition

musk deer

noun

: any or several small hornless deers that live in the high regions of central Asia with the males producing musk