| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| estrus |
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| SYLLABICATION: | es·trus |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   s tr s |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also oes·trus |
| 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. | | ETYMOLOGY: | New Latin, from Latin oestrus, frenzy, gadfly, from Greek oistros. See eis- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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