Hypertext Webster Gateway: "oxen"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Ox \Ox\ ([o^]ks), n.; pl. {Oxen}. [AS. oxa; akin to D. os. G.
ochs, ochse, OHG. ohso, Icel. oxi, Sw. & Dan. oxe, Goth.
a['u]hsa, Skr. ukshan ox, bull; cf. Skr. uksh to sprinkle.
[root]214. Cf. {Humid}, {Aurochs}.] (Zo["o]l.)
The male of bovine quadrupeds, especially the domestic animal
when castrated and grown to its full size, or nearly so. The
word is also applied, as a general name, to any species of
bovine animals, male and female.

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field.
--Ps. viii. 7.

Note: The castrated male is called a steer until it attains
its full growth, and then, an ox; but if castrated
somewhat late in life, it is called a stag. The male,
not castrated, is called a bull. These distinctions are
well established in regard to domestic animals of this
genus. When wild animals of this kind are spoken of, ox
is often applied both to the male and the female. The
name ox is never applied to the individual cow, or
female, of the domestic kind. Oxen may comprehend both
the male and the female.

{Grunting ox} (Zo["o]l.), the yak.

{Indian ox} (Zo["o]l.), the zebu.

{Javan ox} (Zo["o]l.), the banteng.

{Musk ox}. (Zo["o]l.) See under {Musk}.

{Ox bile}. See {Ox gall}, below.

{Ox gall}, the fresh gall of the domestic ox; -- used in the
arts and in medicine.

{Ox pith}, ox marrow. [Obs.] --Marston.

{Ox ray} (Zo["o]l.), a very large ray ({Dicerobatis
Giorn[ae]}) of Southern Europe. It has a hornlike organ
projecting forward from each pectoral fin. It sometimes
becomes twenty feet long and twenty-eight feet broad, and
weighs over a ton. Called also {sea devil}.

{To have the black ox tread on one's foot}, to be
unfortunate; to know what sorrow is (because black oxen
were sacrificed to Pluto). --Leigh Hunt.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

oxen
n : domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or
age: "so many head of cattle"; "wait till the cows come
home"; "seven thin and ill-favored kine"- Bible; "a team
of oxen" [syn: {cattle}, {cows}, {kine}, {Bos taurus}]


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