hippo

/ˈhɪpoʊ/

/ˈhɪpəʊ/

Other forms: hippos

A hippo is a very large African mammal that lives both in and out of the water. Adult hippos can weigh well over 3,000 pounds.

Hippos are the third-largest land mammals (after elephants and rhinos), and of the three, they are by far the most aggressive and territorial. These gray, hairless, barrel-shaped animals resemble enormous pigs, but they're more closely related to whales and dolphins. Hippo is shorthand for hippopotamus, a word that derives from the Greek ho hippos potamios, "the horse of the river."

Definitions of hippo

1. noun

   massive thick-skinned herbivorous animal living in or around rivers of tropical Africa
   synonyms: Hippopotamus amphibius, hippopotamus, river horse

   type of:

   artiodactyl, artiodactyl mammal, even-toed ungulate

   placental mammal having hooves with an even number of functional toes on each foot