cougar
pronunciation
How to pronounce cougar in British English:
UK [ˈku:gə(r)]
How to pronounce cougar in American English:
US [ˈkuɡɚ]
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- Noun:
- large American feline resembling a lion
Word Origin
- cougar (n.)
- 1774, from French couguar, Buffon's adaption (influenced by jaguar) of a word the Portuguese picked up in Brazil as çuçuarana, perhaps from Tupi susuarana, from suasu "deer" + rana "false." Another proposed source is Guarani guaçu ara. Evidently the cedillas dropped off the word before Buffon got it. Slang sense of "older woman (35-plus) who seeks younger males as sex partners" is attested by 2002; said in some sources to have originated in Canada, probably from some reference to predatory feline nature.
Example
- 1. Sounds to me like she could be a cougar .
- 2. The service 's lead scientist for the eastern cougar , mark mccollough , said the animal has likely been extinct since the 1930s .
- 3. Is probably not the least bit like a cougar .
- 4. I saw a cougar slinking toward its prey .
- 5. I know there 's a cougar , I put it in there .