caracal
Americannoun
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a slender, catlike mammal, Lynx caracal, with a reddish-brown coat and long tufted ears, inhabiting northern Africa and India.
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the fur of this animal.
noun
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Also called: desert lynx. a lynxlike feline mammal, Lynx caracal, inhabiting deserts of N Africa and S Asia, having long legs, a smooth coat of reddish fur, and black-tufted ears
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the fur of this animal
Etymology
Origin of caracal
1750–60; < French, apparently Buffon's adaption of Turkish karakulak lynx ( kara black + kulak ear)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They included a caracal, two servals and 16 hybrid felines.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2025
During her court case with PETA, Haddix declared that she makes approximately $80,000 per year selling creatures like caracal wildcats, Asian small-clawed otters, Egyptian fruit bats and African crested porcupines.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2024
This area – spanning parts of modern-day Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iran and more – is home to numerous small cats, including the caracal, serval, jungle cat and sand cat.
From Salon • Aug. 11, 2023
In a related thread, a user commented, “Feds are not looking post floppa,” accompanied by a picture of a popular Russian caracal who has gained an internet following under the name “Big Floppa.”
From The Verge • Jun. 23, 2022
She knew, therefore, that the only animals who could have made the prints were the serval or the caracal.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
