giraffe
UK /dʒɪˈɹɑːf/ · US /d͡ʒəˈɹæf/ noun
Forms giraffes giraff jaraff
- noun A ruminant in the genus Giraffa of the African savannah with long legs, a highly elongated neck, yellow fur patterned with dark spots typically in the form of a network, and two or more horn-like projections called ossicones; the tallest living animal.
- noun A giraffe unicycle.
- noun (Cockney rhyming slang) A laugh. “Are you having a giraffe?!”
- noun (colloquial) A very tall individual.
- noun (especially, derogatory) A very tall woman.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French giraffe, from Italian giraffa, from Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa), from Classical Syriac ܙܪܝܦܐ (zārīp̄ā), from Classical Persian زُرْنَاپَا (zurnāpā, literally “flute-leg”). Displaced camelopard.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An African ruminant (Camelopardalis giraffa) related to the deers and antelopes, but placed in a family by itself; the camelopard. It is the tallest of animals, being sometimes twenty feet from the hoofs to the top of the head. Its neck is very long, and its fore legs are much longer than its hind legs.
Etymology [F. girafe, Sp. girafa, from Ar. zurafa, zarafa.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “giraffe”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details