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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Venison \Ven"i*son\ (?; 277), n. [OE. veneison, veneson,
venison, OF. veneison, F. venaison, L. venatio hunting, the
chase, game, fr. venari, p. p. venatus, to hunt; perhaps akin
to OHG. weidin[=o]n, weidenen, to pasture, to hunt, G. weide
pasturage. Cf. {Gain} to acquire, {Venation}.]
1. Beasts of the chase. [Obs.] --Fabyan.
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2. Formerly, the flesh of any of the edible beasts of the
chase, also of game birds; now, the flesh of animals of
the deer kind exclusively.
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Deer \Deer\ (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal,
wild animal, AS. de['o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G.
thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of
unknown origin. [root]71.]
1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Mice and rats, and such small deer. --Shak.
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The camel, that great deer. --Lindisfarne
MS.
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2. (Zool.) A ruminant of the genus {Cervus}, of many species,
and of related genera of the family {Cervid[ae]}. 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}.
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Note: The deer hunted in England is {Cervus elaphus}, called
also stag or {red deer}; the fallow deer is {Cervus
dama}; the common American deer is {Cervus
Virginianus}; the blacktailed deer of Western North
America is {Cervus Columbianus}; and the mule deer of
the same region is {Cervus macrotis}. See {Axis},
{Fallow deer}, {Mule deer}, {Reindeer}.
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Note: Deer is much used adjectively, or as the first part of
a compound; as, deerkiller, deerslayer, deerslaying,
deer hunting, deer stealing, deerlike, etc.
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{Deer mouse} (Zool.), the white-footed mouse ({Peromyscus
leucopus}, formerly {Hesperomys leucopus}) of America.

{Small deer}, petty game, not worth pursuing; -- used
metaphorically. (See citation from Shakespeare under the
first definition, above.) "Minor critics . . . can find
leisure for the chase of such small deer." --G. P. Marsh.
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