See Also: Goat(medicine)
goat(dictionary)
goat(dictionary)
goat(encyclopedia)
mountain goat(encyclopedia)
goat (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
billy goat(dictionary)
mountain goat(dictionary)
nanny goat(dictionary)
Angora goat(encyclopedia)

goat (iou)



goat noun.

I.
Any of various agile, coarse-haired, hollow-horned ruminant mammals of the bovid genus Capra, native to rocky terrain of N. Africa and Eurasia; esp. any of the domesticated varieties of C. aegragus, reared worldwide for milk, wool, and meat. Orig. (in Old English) spec. a female animal of this kind (cf. BUCK noun1 1). OE.
angora goat, Kashmir goat, etc.
b. The flesh of this as food. ME.
c. Leather made from goatskin. L19.
Any of various horned bovids resembling Capra, esp. any of the same subfamily Caprinae, e.g. the chamois. Cf. goat-antelope below. ME.
II.
The domestic goat as a symbol of a (damned) sinner (usu. in pl., with ref. to Matthew 25:32, 33). Cf. SHEEP noun 2. OE.
b. A licentious man; a lecher. L16.
c. A scapegoat; a person who (rightly or wrongly) takes the blame. US. L19.
d. A fool. colloq. E20.
(Usu. Goat.) The constellation and zodiacal sign Capricorn. LME.
Phrases etc.: act the goat = play the giddy goat below. billy-goat: see BILLY noun2 3. get a person's goat colloq. make him or her angry; annoy. goat and bee jug a moulded Chelsea porcelain jug with two goats and a small bee in relief. JUDAS goat. NANNY-GOAT. play the giddy goat, play the goat frolic, fool about, act irresponsibly. ROCKY MOUNTAIN goat. separate the sheep from the goats (with allus. to Matthew 25:32, 33) sort the good persons or things from the bad or inferior.
Comb.: goat-antelope a bovid of the subfamily Caprinae; spec. one of the tribe Rupicaprini of goats resembling antelopes, which includes the goral, serow, chamois, and Rocky Mountain goat; goat-fig any of various wild figs; goatfish orig., any of various fishes usu. having barbels below the mouth; now spec. (chiefly US), a red mullet; goat-foot a faun or satyr, the Greek god Pan; goat-footed adjective (a) having cloven hoofs like a goat; (b) sure-footed, nimble; goat-god the Greek god Pan; goathair adjective & noun (made of) the skin or hair of a goat; goatherd a person who tends goats; goatherdess (now rare) a female goatherd; goat moth any moth of the worldwide family Cossidae, having reduced mouthparts and often wood-boring larvae, esp. the large Eurasian Cossus cossus, whose caterpillar smells like a goat; goat nut = JOJOBA; goat-rue = goat's rue below; goat's foot a South African low-growing plant of the wood sorrel family, Oxalis caprina; goat's horns a South African dwarf succulent plant of the carpetweed family, Cheiridopsis candidissima; goatskin adjective & noun (made of) the skin of a goat; goat's-rue (a) = GALEGA; (b) a N. American leguminous plant, Tephrosia virginiana, having pink and yellow flowers; goat's-thorn any of several spiny plants of the mainly north temperate leguminous genus Astragalus, of which some are a source of gum tragacanth; goatsucker (now chiefly N. Amer.) a nightjar; goat tang a red seaweed, Polyides rotundus (order Gigartinates), which grows around the low-water mark; goat-weed any of various tropical weeds with a goatlike odour, esp. Ageratum conyzoides of the composite family; goat willow a pussy-willow, Salix caprea.
goatish adjective goatlike; spec. lecherous: E16.
goatishly adverb M19.
goatishness noun M19.
goatlike adjective resembling or characteristic of a goat L16.
goatling noun a young goat, spec. between twelve months and two years old L19.
goaty adjective resembling or characteristic of a goat E17.