hunter-gatherer

noun

hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er ˈhən-tər-ˈga-t͟hər-ər 

: a member of a culture in which food is obtained by hunting, fishing, and foraging rather than by agriculture or animal husbandry

Examples of hunter-gatherer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In some ways, tracking’s revival began in the 1980s, when a South African physics student named Louis Liebenberg abandoned his studies, bought a Land Cruiser and drove into the Kalahari Desert to commune with the San, a group of hunter-gatherers that includes the Ju/’hoansi. —Ben Goldfarb, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024

Desperate to save her daughter, Bea enters into a volunteer study to live as a hunter-gatherer in the Wilderness State. —Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 20 Oct. 2024

Early hunter-gatherers had multiple gene copies, but early European farmers saw a surge in the average number of AMY1 copies over the past 4,000 years. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 17 Oct. 2024

These ancient hunter-gatherers also depended on the cenotes as a water source, and probably for shelter as well. —Martin Broen, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

hunter-gatherer

noun

hunt·​er-gath·​er·​er

-ˈgat͟h-ər-ər,

-ˈget͟h-

: a member of a culture in which food is gotten by hunting, fishing, and gathering rather than by agriculture