alpaca
a domesticated South American ruminant, Lama pacos, having long, soft, silky fleece, related to the llama and believed to be a variety of the guanaco.
the fleece of this animal.
a fabric or yarn made of it.
a glossy, commonly black woolen fabric with cotton warp.
a crepe fabric made of rayon and acetate yarn in imitation of alpaca wool cloth.
Origin of alpaca
1Words Nearby alpaca
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use alpaca in a sentence
Your hosts, Rob and Donna, live and work on the property and are happy to give you a tour of their ranch, where they raise alpaca and turn the animals’ fiber into yarn.
While llamas and alpacas can be found in every state, their populations are largely concentrated in Arizona and the Pacific Northwest.
Llamas are hotter than ever. Here’s why. | By Emily Wakild/The Conversation | December 21, 2020 | Popular-ScienceMale llamas are bred with female alpacas to increase the wool’s weight.
Llamas are hotter than ever. Here’s why. | By Emily Wakild/The Conversation | December 21, 2020 | Popular-ScienceAfter the Spanish took control of the Inca empire in the 1540s, Spanish rulers viewed llamas and alpacas as beasts of burden or sources of meat.
Llamas Are Having A Moment In The US, But They’ve Been Icons In South America For Millennia | LGBTQ-Editor | December 19, 2020 | No Straight NewsThese came from large animals, such as Andean deer and wild relatives of the alpaca.
This prehistoric woman from Peru hunted big game | Bruce Bower | December 2, 2020 | Science News For Students
At least 50,000 families in the Andean highlands rely on herding alpaca for income and to sustain themselves.
Put Down That Cashmere. There’s a New Luxury Wool in Town | Ann Binlot | December 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTPeruvians have been wearing knits made of alpaca fiber for centuries.
Put Down That Cashmere. There’s a New Luxury Wool in Town | Ann Binlot | December 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd it was fur of every variety: brushed mohair, alpaca, ponyhair, and astrakhan.
Battle of the Giant Furry Mittens: Wang v. Altuzarra | Isabel Wilkinson | February 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHis right hand rested on his gavel, he thrust his left into the side pocket of his long alpaca coat.
A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith NicholsonOne good moreen skirt did me, with a quilted alpaca for every-day wear and two white ones for best.
And So They Were Married | Florence Morse KingsleyAnd black silk for Sundays, and a black merino or alpaca for week-days, made short and full, was her unvarying costume.
Salome | Emma MarshallYou may flit from brown merino to blue poplin, and from blue poplin to black alpaca, and be queen of all that is tiresome still.
A New Atmosphere | Gail HamiltonI heard him trying to render the stock phrases of Low Church piety into French for the benefit of the stolid man in grey alpaca.
Tono Bungay | H. G. Wells
British Dictionary definitions for alpaca (1 of 2)
/ (ælˈpækə) /
a domesticated cud-chewing artiodactyl mammal, Lama pacos, closely related to the llama and native to South America: family Camelidae. Its dark shaggy hair is a source of wool
the cloth made from the wool of this animal
a glossy fabric simulating this, used for linings, etc
Origin of alpaca
1British Dictionary definitions for alpaca (2 of 2)
sometimes alpacca
/ (ælˈpækə) /
a type of nickel silver used in jewellery
Origin of alpaca
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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