donga
Americannoun
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(in an ice shelf ) a small ravine with steep sides.
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(in South Africa) an eroded ravine; a dry watercourse.
noun
noun
Etymology
Origin of donga
1875–80; < Nguni (compare Zulu u(lu)donga ); perhaps directly < a pidginized form with loss of the class prefix, as Fanagalo donga
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.
One night our dingy shack, which had been leaning precipitously on the edge of a donga, collapsed.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
It was perched unpretentiously on the edge of a donga, one of many similar shacks on Eighth Avenue.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
He hurled them across the donga, and they landed in the middle of the street, a few paces from the approaching policeman and his naked captive.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
The koodoo had gone along the right bank of the donga which, commencing just below the pool, extended half a mile or more down the flat valley.
From Jock of the Bushveld by Fitzpatrick, Percy, Sir
When he cleared the donga, a few yards from the crest, he went down on hands and knees, and crawled from boulder to boulder.
From The Fire-Gods A Tale of the Congo by Gilson, Charles
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.
