dassie

American

[das-ee, dah-see] / ˈdæs i, ˈdɑ si /

noun

hyrax.

dassie British

/ ˈdæsɪ /

noun

another name for a hyrax, esp the rock hyrax

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dassie

1780–90; < Afrikaans, diminutive of das; see das

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.

It is only the second time the small animals, also known as the rock rabbit or dassie, have reproduced since arriving at the safari park in 2012.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2021

She poked sticky cotton into tiny gaps with a sliver of dassie bone.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

The dassie flopped wildly, snapping his sharp tusks.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

She remembered the leap the caracal had made to pluck a dassie from a rock.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

I’m just another rock, she told the dassie as he suspiciously sniffed the air.

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