Coyote

//kəˈjoʊ.ti// name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Canis latrans, a species of canine native to North America.

    "Near Rio Frio we shot several handsome birds, and saw a cayjotte, or wild dog, which in size nearly approached the wolf."

  2. 2
    small wolf native to western North America wordnet
  3. 3
    A smuggler of undocumented immigrants across the land border from Latin America into the United States of America. US, informal

    "Jorge’s father had pawned his last four goats for $2,000 to help pay for their transit, another loan the family would have to repay at 100 percent interest. The coyote called at 10 p.m. — they would go that night."

  4. 4
    a forest fire fighter who is sent to battle remote and severe forest fires (often for days at a time) wordnet
  5. 5
    someone who smuggles illegal immigrants into the United States (usually across the Mexican border) wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To prospect for gold by manually digging holes into overlying earth, as into a hillside.
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An island of El Salvador.
  2. 2
    A trickster figure found in many Native American folklores.

Synonyms

All synonyms
prairie wolfanimalantelopearmadillobatbrush wolf

Example

More examples

"She is being chased by a coyote."

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish coyote, from a Nahuan language, from Proto-Nahuan *koyoo-tl. Compare Chinook ki-o-tī.

Related phrases

Coyote StateWile E. Coyotecoyote brushcoyote bushcoyote gourdcoyote meloncoyote timecoyote tobaccocoyote uglyquiet coyotequiet coyote gesturecanis latrans

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.