Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The common domestic Indian buffalo, Bos bubalus or Bubalus Buffelus; the water-buffalo: so called by English residents in translating a Chinese name, from the habit it has of seeking the water to escape the annoyance of insects.
  • noun In British Guiana, the manatee, Trichecus inunguis.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • "It is reckoned the residence of the water-cow," a monster like the Australian bunyip.

    Angling Sketches Andrew Lang 1878

  • There was a water-cow in Scott's loch of Cauldshiels, above Abbotsford.

    Angling Sketches Andrew Lang 1878

  • The water-cow has not lately emerged from Alemoor to attack the casual angler.

    Angling Sketches Andrew Lang 1878

  • “I do not know,” said the woman; “folks say that there used to be queer beast in the lake, water-cow used to come out at night and eat people’s clover in the fields.”

    Wild Wales : Its People, Language and Scenery 2004

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