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dik-dik

[dik-dik]
noun
  1. any antelope of the genus Madoqua or Rhynchotragus, of eastern and southwestern Africa, growing only to 14 inches (36 cm) high at the shoulder.
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Origin of dik-dik

First recorded in 1880–85; said to be a name imitative of the animal's cry, but language of orig. not ascertained
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dik-dik

Historical Examples

  • For instance, there's the oribi and the dik-dik, to say nothing of the steinbuck and the klipspringer.

    In Africa

    John T. McCutcheon

  • This animal turned out to be a little mouse-deer, or dik-dik.

  • After I had gone a little way a dik-dik crossed the dry river-bed in front of me; I fired at him, but it was too long a shot.

  • Dik-dik flesh is very good eating; it tastes better roasted when one has bacon to add to it.

  • At the time the dik-dik came out I heard pigs grunting in a little dell below me, but I could not see them at all.

British Dictionary definitions for dik-dik

dik-dik

noun
  1. any small antelope of the genus Madoqua, inhabiting semiarid regions of Africa, having an elongated muzzle and, in the male, small stout horns
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Word Origin

C19: an East African name, probably of imitative origin
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