hippopotamus

IPA/ˌhɪpəˈpɒtəməs/
KK[hˌɪpəpˈɑtəməs]IPA/ˌhɪpəˈpɑːtəməs/

hippopotamus — noun

  • hippopotamussingular
  • hippopotamusesplural

1. A large, heavy mammal with short legs and very thick, nearly hairless grey skin.

1.名詞A2
釋義

A large, heavy mammal with short legs and very thick, nearly hairless grey skin. It lives in and near rivers and lakes in Africa and spends most of its day partly or fully underwater.

例句

The Tanaka family watched a hippopotamus slowly rise out of the river during their safari in Kenya.

collocation: hippopotamus + rise out of / surface from [water]

A full-grown hippopotamus can weigh over three tons, so park rangers keep a safe distance.

comparative structure: can weigh over [number] tons

用法筆記

The plural form can be either hippopotamuses (common in everyday English) or hippopotami (formal, from the Latin plural). The informal shortened form hippo is very common in spoken English.

常見錯誤

❌A hippopotamus has a horn on its nose.
✅A hippopotamus does not have a horn
💡you are thinking of a rhinoceros.' — Students often confuse the hippopotamus with the rhinoceros because both are large, thick-skinned African animals.
❌Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of hippopotamuses.
✅That long word is just the name of a made-up fear of long words
💡it has nothing to do with the animal.' — The word uses 'hippopotamus' as a joke, not as actual vocabulary.