jackal
Americannoun
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jackals
plural
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any of several nocturnal wild dogs of the genus Canis, especially C. aureus, of Asia and Africa, that scavenge or hunt in packs.
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a person who performs dishonest or base deeds as the follower or accomplice of another.
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a person who performs menial or degrading tasks for another.
noun
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any of several African or S Asian canine mammals of the genus Canis , closely related to the dog, having long legs and pointed ears and muzzle: predators and carrion-eaters
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a person who does menial tasks for another
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a villain, esp a swindler
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jackal
1595–1605; < alteration, by association with Jack, of Persian shag ( h ) āl; cognate with Sanskrit śṛgāla
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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.
See Examples For:
Each animal was roughly the size of a jackal, but their bodies suggest they were adapted to hunt in different ways.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
I suppose she is referring to an alley cat or perhaps a jackal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
Dead animals littered the side of the road; deer, raccoons, something that looked like a purple jackal, a Chupacabra or two, what looked like a werewolf, and at least one low-flying turkey vulture.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2024
An all-action 30-minute cameo, which included a run down the wing and a jackal turnover on his own line, showed why his potential is so high.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2024
On it were six crudely carved wooden figurines of animals—a heron, a crocodile, a jackal, a serpent, a dove, and a hippo—one familiar for each god.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
"He wanted, needed, deserved..a third act. It was ..in the planning. And then, those jackals."
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2025
The animals, also known as the plains wolf and listed as vulnerable, are smaller than the stronger Himalayan wolf and can be mistaken for other species such as jackals.
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
The kibbutz had a local pub, but there was little else to do at night other than stargaze and listen to jackals howling in the desert.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
Though they are genetically closer to jackals, they convergently evolved to resemble gray wolves.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2025
They tore into the bag like jackals into carrion.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
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.
