duiker

[ dahy-ker ]

noun,plural dui·kers, (especially collectively) dui·ker.

any of several small African antelopes of the Cephalophus, Sylvicapra, and related genera, the males and often the females having short, spikelike horns: some are endangered.

Origin of duiker

1770–80; <Afrikaans, Dutch duiker diver, equivalent to duiken to dive (see duck²) + -er-er¹

Words Nearby duiker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use duiker in a sentence

Upon reaching the road, it stopped, and looked at me, and I then saw that it was a duiker.
Sporting Scenes amongst the Kaffirs of South Africa | Alfred W. Drayson
They are all small, the dik-dik being scarcely larger than a rabbit, and they are divided into as many subspecies as the duiker.
In Africa | John T. McCutcheon
In fact, it gets its Dutch name for that reason, duiker bok, meaning "diving buck" in Dutch.
In Africa | John T. McCutcheon
The duiker is another little antelope that one meets frequently in the grassy places of East Africa.
In Africa | John T. McCutcheon
The banded duiker (C. doriae) from West Africa is golden brown with black transverse bands on the back and loins.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 8 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for duiker

duiker

duyker

/ (ˈdaɪˌkə) /

nounplural -kers or -ker

Also called: duikerbok (ˈdaɪkəbɒk) any small antelope of the genera Cephalophus and Sylvicapra, occurring throughout Africa south of the Sahara, having short straight backward-pointing horns, pointed hooves, and an arched back
Southern African any of several cormorants, esp the long-tailed shag (Phalacrocorax africanus)

Origin of duiker

C18: via Afrikaans from Dutch duiker diver, from duiken to dive; see duck ²

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

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