hyena

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Any of several carnivorous mammals of the family Hyaenidae of Africa and Asia, which feed as scavengers and have powerful jaws, relatively short hind limbs, and coarse hair.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Hyæna or family Hyænidæ.
• noun The pouched dog, the thylacine dasyure of Tasmania, Thylacinus cynocephalus: so called from its predaceous and carnivorous habits. See zebra-wolf.
• noun Also spelled hyæna.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Zoöl.) Any carnivorous mammal of the family Hyænidæ, doglike nocturnal mammals of Africa and southern Asia, of which three living species are known. They are large and strong, but cowardly. They feed chiefly on carrion, and are nocturnal in their habits.
• noun See under Cave.
• noun (Zoöl.) a South African canine animal (Lycaon venaticus), which hunts in packs, chiefly at night. It is smaller than the common wolf, with very large, erect ears, and a bushy tail. Its color is reddish or yellowish brown, blotched with black and white. Called also hunting dog.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Large, canine‐resembling carnivore belonging to the family Hyaenidae, native to Africa and Asia, often notable for the sound similar to laughter which it can make if excited.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun doglike nocturnal mammal of Africa and southern Asia that feeds chiefly on carrion