noun
mongoose
MONG-goos
noun
1
A small, agile carnivorous mammal known for its speed and famous ability to kill venomous snakes.
"The mongoose darted around the cobra, waiting for an opening to strike."
"Farmers once introduced mongooses to islands to control rats and snakes."
How to Use Mongoose
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA small, fast, snake-killing mammal found mainly in Africa and Asia.
Common mistake
The plural is "mongooses," never "mongeese" — despite how it looks, the word has nothing to do with goose.
Common pairings
a mongoose and a cobra
a mongoose colony
Word Forms
mongooses plural, mongeese plural
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The _____ darted around the cobra, waiting for an opening to strike.
Etymology
From Portuguese manguço, borrowed from a Marathi word for the animal that traces back to an old Dravidian root. The English spelling was later reshaped by folk association with "goose" — the plural is properly "mongooses," not "mongeese."