cougar - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

North American cougar (Puma concolor)

From French couguar, from Portuguese cuguardo, a deformation of Brazilian Portuguese suçuarana (earlier çuçuarana), from Old Tupi sûasuarana.[1]

cougar (plural cougars)

  1. A wild feline, of species Puma concolor, native to the Americas.
    Synonyms: catamount, catamountain, mountain lion, painter, panther, puma, red tiger
    Hyponym: Florida panther
    • 1792, Georges-Louis Leclerc, anonymous translator, Buffon's Natural History, volume 7, London: Printed by J.S. Barr, Bridges-Street, Covent-Garden, translation of original in French:
      They are found in Brasil, Paraguay, and in the country of the Amazons; and there is reason to believe that the animal, described by some travellers, under the name of the Ocorome, in Peru, is the same as the cougar, as well as that in the country of the Iroquois, which has been considered as a tiger, thought it is neither striped like that animal, nor spotted like the panther.
    • 1831, Francis Smith Eastman, A history of the state of New York:
      The Cougar has entirely disappeared, or is very rarely met with. This animal was about the size of the wolf, of a gray color, strong, active, fierce and untameable.
    • 1854, “The cougar, and an adventure with one”, in The Anglo-American Magazine, volume 4, page 84:
      The only indigenous long tailed cat in America north of the parallel of 30 degrees is the cougar. The wild cats, so called, are lynxes with short tails; and of these there are three distinct species.
    • 2013 November 14, Alexa Keefe, Steve Winter, “A Cougar Ready for His Closeup”, in National Geographic‎[1], archived from the original on 1 March 2021:
      Winter’s task was to illustrate cougars—also known as mountain lions—in an urban environment. His research led him to biologist Jeff Sikich, whose work with a mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area on the outskirts of L.A. seemed promising.
  2. (Canada, US, slang, derogatory) An older woman who actively seeks the casual, often sexual, companionship of younger men, by implication a female “sexual predator”.
    Hypernyms: cradle robber, cradle snatcher, manther
    Coordinate terms: cub, MILF, sugar mama, toy boy, OWL
    A cougar approached Warren at the Palomino Club and asked for a dance.
    • [**2001** June 7, Dan Savage, “Count Every Vote”, in The Stranger‎[2]:
      I am 26 years old and in a respectful but super-sexual relationship with a recent divorcée in her 40s. (A "cougar," in local slang.)]
    • 2010, “Home Wreckers”, in How I Met Your Mother, season 5, episode 20 (television production):
      Barney Stinson: She's a cougar, Ted! / Robin Scherbatsky: I thought you said you can't be a cougar if you're over 50.
    • 2011, Donna McDonald, Dating A Cougar, →ISBN:
      “Younger can be good. How much younger?” Regina asked, inspecting the appetizer plates for any lingering bites. “I don't know,” Alexa said frowning. “Why does that matter?” “Less than eight years makes you a Puma. Over eight years makes you a Cougar,” Regina said wisely, grinning as Lauren nodded excitedly in agreement.
    • 2026 May 7, Clover Hope, “‘Do you think I’m a cougar?’: five influencer couples on their age-gap relationships”, in The Guardian‎[3], →ISSN:
      “Early on, when we were dating, I was like, ‘Do you think I’m a cougar?’” she recalls with a laugh. When Woolfolk started growing out his salt-and-pepper beard, she was thrilled.

Puma concolor

slang: older woman who seeks younger men

  1. ^ “cougar”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

cougar m (plural cougars)

  1. alternative spelling of couguar (“cougar”)

cougar f (plural cougars)

  1. (informal) cougar (an older woman who actively seeks the casual, often sexual, companionship of younger men)