Ox /(ŏks)/

Ox

n.

pl. Oxen

  1. 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. (Zool.)
    All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field.
    — Ps. viii. 7.

Phrases & Compounds

Grunting ox
the yak.
Indian ox
the zebu.
Javan ox
the banteng.
Musk ox
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.
Ox ray
a very large ray (Dicerobatis Giornae) 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).