deer

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

• noun Any of various hoofed ruminant mammals of the family Cervidae, characteristically having deciduous antlers borne chiefly by the males. The deer family includes the white-tailed deer, elk, moose, and caribou.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Any wild quadruped.
• noun The general name of the solid-horned ruminants of the family Ccrvidœ, and especially of the genus Cervus. See these words.
• noun A term loosely applied to the chevrotains, of the family Tragulidæ (which see), from their resemblance to musk-deer.

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

• noun obsolete Any animal; especially, a wild animal.
• noun (Zoöl.) A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervidæ. The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison.
• noun (Zoöl.) the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus, formerly Hesperomys leucopus) of America.
• noun petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the first definition, above.)

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

• noun obsolete A beast, usually a quadruped as opposed to birds, fish, etc.
• noun archaic (Esp. in phrase small deer) Any animal, especially a mammal.
• noun zoology a ruminant mammal with antlers and hooves of the family Cervidae or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla
• noun The meat of such an animal

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

• noun distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers