goat

goat — noun

1. A four-legged farm or wild animal with two horns, a small beard, and hair coveri

1.nounA1
Definition

A four-legged farm or wild animal with two horns, a small beard, and hair covering its body. Goats often live on mountain slopes or on farmland where people raise them for milk, meat, and fibres.

Example

The farmer gets fresh milk from his goats every morning before sunrise.

countable noun in plural form

A wild goat stood perfectly still on the narrow cliff above the river.

wild vs domestic context

Common collocations
  • mountain goat
  • goat cheese
  • goat milk
  • herd of goats
  • baby goat
Synonyms
  • ram

    a male sheep, not a goat; confused by learners

  • kid

    a young goat, not a synonym for the adult animal

Grammar Patterns

goat + verb (eats, climbs)

a herd/flock of goats

Usage Note

Often used in the plural form 'goats' when referring to the animals as a group or species. The young are called 'kids'.

Common Mistakes

The goat is a kind of sheeps.
The goat is a kind of sheep.
'sheep' is already plural and does not take an -s.

2. An informal, insulting word for a male person who openly shows strong sexual int

2.noun
Definition

An informal, insulting word for a male person who openly shows strong sexual interest in others, often in a way that other people find unpleasant or inappropriate.

Example

The other passengers avoided the loud old goat at the back of the bus.

standard pattern: old goat

Asher's coworkers called him an old goat after he made inappropriate jokes at the office party.

Common collocations
  • old goat
  • dirty old goat
Synonyms
  • womanizer

    more neutral, less offensive; standard English

  • lecher

    more formal and literary than 'goat'

  • pervert

    stronger and more negative than 'goat'

Grammar Patterns

old goat

act like a goat

Usage Note

Always disapproving and impolite. Most commonly appears in the fixed phrase 'old goat.' Avoid using in formal writing or polite conversation.

Common Mistakes

He is such a goat woman.
He is such a goat.
'goat' already means the person; do not add 'woman' or 'man'.

3. A person regarded as the best ever in a particular sport, art, or professional a

3.nounB2
Definition

A person regarded as the best ever in a particular sport, art, or professional activity. The label comes from the acronym GOAT, and may be written in all capital letters or in lowercase as a regular noun.

Example

Many basketball fans still argue over whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the real GOAT.

capitalized abbreviation GOAT

After winning her third gold medal, the runner was called the goat of her sport.

lowercase noun form

Common collocations
  • the GOAT
  • call someone the GOAT
  • GOAT status
  • the goat of [sport/field]
Synonyms
  • champion

    more formal; refers to a winner rather than the all-time best

  • legend

    similar in meaning but less specific; implies fame and respect over time

  • top dog

    informal idiom for the most successful person in a group

Antonyms
  • nobody

    a person of no importance or achievement

Grammar Patterns

be the goat / GOAT

call someone the GOAT

Usage Note

Originally from sports commentary but now used more broadly for any field (music, film, business). The capitalized form 'GOAT' is common in social media hashtags and informal writing. The lowercase 'goat' is also accepted as a regular noun. Note: this modern slang meaning has no connection to the animal sense.

Common Mistakes

She is a GOAT player.
She is the GOAT.
'GOAT' is used as a title or label, not as an adjective modifying a noun.

4. A person who is unfairly blamed or made fun of for a mistake or problem that was

4.nounC1
Definition

A person who is unfairly blamed or made fun of for a mistake or problem that was caused by others, or who is singled out to take the blame so more powerful people can avoid responsibility.

Example

When the project failed, the junior staff became the goat for the senior manager's mistakes.

be the goat for [something]

The team made Hassan the goat for the loss even though he had played well all season.

make someone the goat

Common collocations
  • be the goat
  • make someone the goat
  • become the goat
Synonyms
  • scapegoat

    the standard, more formal term; 'goat' is a shortened form

  • fall guy

    informal; someone set up to take the blame for a crime or mistake

  • whipping boy

    dated; someone who is regularly punished for others' faults

Grammar Patterns

be the goat for something

make someone the goat

Usage Note

Derived from 'scapegoat' — the 'goat' in this sense is a shortened form. Always implies that the blame is undeserved. Common in sports and workplace contexts where one person takes the fall for a group failure.

Common Mistakes

They made goat of him.
They made him the goat.
'the goat' requires a definite article.
Idioms

get someone's goat

idiom

To annoy or irritate someone very much. Less commonly, the phrase can also refer to starting a conflict with someone or beginning a task. The most frequent and widely understood meaning in modern English is 'to annoy.'

The way Cyrus whistled during the exam really got the teacher's goat.

What gets my goat is when drivers cut in front without using their turn signals.

get somebody’s goat

idiom

To make someone feel very annoyed or angry.

His constant humming during the test really got my goat.

Did the loud music from next door get your goat last night?

sort out/separate the sheep from the goats

idiom

To identify which people are skilled or capable and which are not.

The final exam will separate the sheep from the goats.

In the job interview, they tried to sort the sheep from the goats.

Word family

  • goatherd
    nounC1
  • goatish
    adjectiveC2
  • scapegoat
    nounB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Goat, sheep, ram, and lamb are all farm animals, but learners often confuse them. A goat (山羊) has a beard, a short tail that points up, and straight horns that arch backward. A sheep (綿羊) has a thick wool coat and a tail that hangs down. A ram is an adult male sheep with large curled horns, often used for breeding. A lamb is a young sheep, typically under one year old, and its meat is called 'lamb.' The most common confusion is between goats and sheep because they look similar from a distance. A simple trick: goats have beards and climb; sheep have wool and graze in flocks. For example: 'The goat climbed onto the rock, while the sheep stayed on the grass below.'

goat ↗sheep ↗ram ↗lamb ↗

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishModern English

The word 'goat' comes from Old English 'gāt,' meaning a goat (female), which traces back through Proto-Germanic '*gait-' to Proto-Indo-European '*ghaido-,' meaning 'goat' or 'young goat.' The slang sense of 'greatest of all time' (GOAT) is a modern backronym from the 1990s, popularised in sports culture — it has no historical connection to the animal word. The sense of 'lecherous man' dates from the 17th century, comparing a man's behaviour to the animal's reputation for strong sexual drive. The 'scapegoat' sense comes from the biblical term 'scapegoat,' shortened in informal use.