: a long-legged African wildcat (Felis serval) having large ears and a tawny black-spotted coat
Illustration of serval
Examples of serval in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebThe announcement Friday follows restorations in spending over the last serval days to police, fire and sanitation, which Adams has attributed to an improved financial picture and aggressive cuts to spending on migrant services.—Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News, 12 Jan. 2024 After earning a degree in exotic animal training and management from Moorpark College, she's worked with big cats: bobcats, servals, lions and tigers.—Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY, 31 Mar. 2024 According to the team, the positive results of their tests — which involved an assembly of tigers, lions, leopards, lynxes, cougars, cheetahs, and servals, among others — indicate that vocal recognition is not a skill dependent on domestication.—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024 One of the warrants dated Dec. 8 and obtained by PEOPLE shows the animals found dead at the zoo include cranes and servals, as well as an alligator, llama and macaw.—Nicole Acosta, Peoplemag, 11 Dec. 2023 See all Example Sentences for serval
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'serval.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
French, from Portuguese lobo cerval lynx, from Medieval Latin lupus cervalis, literally, deerlike wolf
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