coyote

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish coyote, from a Nahuan language, from Proto-Nahuan *koyootl. Compare Chinook ki-o-tī.

noun

1. Canis latrans, a species of canine native to North America.
   Near Rio Frio we shot several handsome birds, and saw a cayjotte, or wild dog, which in size nearly approached the wolf. 1824, William Bullock, Six Months' Residence and Travels in Mexico, page 119
2. (US, informal) A smuggler of undocumented immigrants across the land border from Latin America into the United States of America.
   Jorge’s father had pawned his last four goats for $2,000 to help pay for their transit, another loan the family would have to repay at 100 percent interest. The coyote called at 10 p.m. — they would go that night. 2020-07-23, Abrahm Lustgarten, “The Great Climate Migration”, in New York Times

verb

1. To prospect for gold by manually digging holes into overlying earth, as into a hillside.