noun
coyote
koy-OHT
noun
1
A wild dog-like animal native to North America, smaller than a wolf.
"A coyote howled somewhere out in the desert at night."
2
Informal: a person who smuggles migrants across a border for payment.
"The family paid a coyote thousands of dollars to guide them across the border."
How to Use Coyote
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA North American wild canine, or, in slang, someone paid to smuggle people across a border.
Common pairings
coyote howling
pack of coyotes
Word Forms
coyoted past tense, coyotes plural, coyotes singular
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A _____ howled somewhere out in the desert at night.
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish coyote, itself from a Nahuatl (Aztec) word.