DCHP-1 Online

moose-deer † Obs.

• 1 n. a large ruminant mammal, Alces alces, of the northern forests.

  See also: moose (def. 1)  

  • 1765-75  (1933)  . . . the Read and Moose Deer are Plentey hear, Espeshaley the former.
  • 1872  But the sight of a bear or moose-deer had the effect of waking him up in a way that caused his dark eyes to flash. . . .
  • 1901  But de swallow will fly, an' de beeg moose deer/ An' caribou too, will go long way/ To drink de sweet water of Lac Grenier

• 2 n. the flesh of the moose used as food.

  See also: moose (def. 2)  

  • 1807  (1890)  They assist one another with provisions when in want, and their principal food consists of hares, beavers and moose deer, generally roasted.
  • 1880  (1893)  The dinner consisted of the head of a moose-deer, which had been cut up into large pieces and then boiled.

• 3 n. any of several species of North American reindeer, genus Rangifer, native to Canada, Alaska, and formerly to Maine and Mass.

  See also: caribou (def. 1)  

  • 1789  North America supplies us with skins of the Stag, the Deer, and the Roe-Buck; of the Mooze deer, called there _CARIBOU; and of the Elk, which they call _ORIGNAL.
  • 1793  (1933)  The . . . Assinibouan River is the part most abounding in all the north west, the following animals are natives of it, viz--Buffaloes, Moose Deers, Orignals, Elks, Red Deer, Cabeniers of various kinds. . . .