donga
Americannoun
-
(in an ice shelf ) a small ravine with steep sides.
-
(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.
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
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
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
He accordingly advanced by way of a donga, which led to the hill-top, and in which he could not be seen.
From The Fire-Gods A Tale of the Congo by Gilson, Charles
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.
