noun
otter
OT-uh
noun
1
A sleek, semi-aquatic mammal with dense fur that hunts fish and other prey in rivers or coastal waters.
"A pair of otters played in the shallows near the dock."
"The zoo built a new enclosure for its river otters."
2
Informally, a slim, hairy man, especially used within gay culture to contrast with a stockier "bear."
"He described himself as more of an otter than a bear."
How to Use Otter
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA playful, fish-eating water mammal — or, informally, a slim hairy man.
Common pairings
a river otter
a sea otter
a family of otters
Word Forms
otters plural, otter plural
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Etymology
From Old English otor, tracing back through Germanic roots to a Proto-Indo-European word for "water" — the same distant root behind the word "hydra."