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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

hippopotamus

/ˌhɪp.əˈpɑ.tə.məs/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:57
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What does hippopotamus mean?

noun

  1. A semi-aquatic, herbivorous, African hoofed mammal of the family Hippopotamidae.
  2. The common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˌhɪp.əˈpɑ.tə.məs/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Even the hippopotamus, when threatening with its widely-open enormous mouth a comrade, draws back its small ears, just like a horse.
Charles DarwinThe Expression of the Emotions in Man and AnimalsProject Gutenberg ebook #1227
The first living species of mammals is found in the remains of the hippopotamus that frequented the rivers of Pliocene times.
Emory Adams AllenThe Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesProject Gutenberg ebook #2873
More book examples (3)
Anyhow the small gardener is more likely to succeed raising pheasants than to muss with a hippopotamus, at least in the suburbs.
Bolton HallThree Acres and LibertyProject Gutenberg ebook #4509
And there that human hippopotamus stood jumping up and down while he mashed me into the mud like a mole under a pile-driver.
James J. (James John) DavisThe Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came of ItProject Gutenberg ebook #1297
Especially by the river, as here, are the boomings of the weirdest of weird bullfrogs, and the splashings and swishings of crocodile and hippopotamus.
Stewart Edward WhiteThe Land of FootprintsProject Gutenberg ebook #1378