Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The periodic state of sexual excitement in the female of most mammals, excluding humans, that immediately precedes ovulation and during which the female is most receptive to mating; heat.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun American Alternative spelling of oestrus.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin, from Latin oestrus, frenzy, gadfly, from Greek oistros; see eis- in Indo-European roots.]

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