dewlap
Americannoun
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a pendulous fold of skin under the throat of a bovine animal.
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any similar part in other animals, as the wattle of fowl or the inflatable loose skin under the throat of some lizards.
noun
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a loose fold of skin hanging from beneath the throat in cattle, dogs, etc
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loose skin on an elderly person's throat
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dewlap
1350–1400; Middle English dew ( e ) lappe, apparently dewe dew + lappe lap 1; compare Danish dog-læp, Dutch (dial.) dauw-zwengel; literal sense is unclear
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.
In Brazil, 80% of the cows are Zebus, a subspecies originating in India with a distinctive hump and dewlap, or folds of draping neck skin.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024
An imposing white cow with a distinctive hump on her back and flaps of "dewlap" skin flowing from her neck like a fashionable scarf set a record at auction last June in Arandú, Brazil.
From National Geographic • Jan. 24, 2024
She raised her ears from a head that remained at rest atop two rolls of dewlap and twitched her nose as if to swipe me aside.
From New York Times • Nov. 9, 2018
One of the largest is the Perentetron: a long-tailed endurance predator that stands tall above the ground and has a particularly long, robust neck and massive dewlap.
From Scientific American • Apr. 1, 2013
He had to wear his silly bellhop’s cap tilted sideways, its tight plastic strap sunk into his sagging dewlap.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
