fennec

[ fen-ek ]

/ ˈfɛn ɛk /

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noun

a small, pale yellowish-brown fox, Fennecus zerda, of northern Africa, having large, pointed ears.

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Origin of fennec

1780–90; <Arabic fanak<Persian

Words nearby fennec

Feng Yu-hsiang, Fenian, Fenian cycle, fenland, fenman, fennec, fennel, fennelflower, fenny, fenoprofen, fen-phen

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

How to use fennec in a sentence

The above Fennec was about ten inches long, the tail five inches and a quarter, near an inch of it on the tip, black.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 286, December 8, 1827|Various
The fennec is a creature of the desert, and lives in burrows which it scoops out in the sand.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
The fennec spends the heat of the day comfortably curled up in its burrow, with its nose tucked away under its big bushy tail.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
And yet, correctly speaking, it was not a fox neither, but a fennec.
The Young Yagers|Mayne Reid

They were not going to make a circuit for such an insignificant creature as the little fennec.
The Young Yagers|Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for fennec

fennec

/ (ˈfɛnɛk) /

noun

a very small nocturnal fox, Fennecus zerda, inhabiting deserts of N Africa and Arabia, having pale fur and enormous ears

Word Origin for fennec

C18: from Arabic fenek fox

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