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razorback

[rey-zer-bak]
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noun
  1. a finback or rorqual.
  2. a wild or semiwild hog with a ridgelike back, common in the southern U.S.
  3. a sharp narrow ridge or range of hills.
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adjective
  1. Also ra·zor·backed, ra·zor-backed. having a sharp ridge along the back.
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Origin of razorback

First recorded in 1815–25; razor + back1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for razorback

Historical Examples

  • Finally I struck a circus, and got an engagement as a razorback.

    The Young Acrobat of the Great North American Circus

    Horatio Alger Jr.

  • The mainstay of every farmer, aside from his cornfield, was his litter of razorback hogs.

  • The razorback has a mind of his own; not instinct, but mind—whatever psychologists may say.

  • The razorback is a powerful hunter, and it does not require a powerful animal scent to draw the razorback to the trap.

    Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper

    Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock

  • The Razorback range is a very remarkable feature in this part of the country.

British Dictionary definitions for razorback

razorback

noun
  1. Also called: finback the common rorqualSee rorqual
  2. a semiwild or wild pig of the southeastern US, having a narrow body, long legs, and a ridged back
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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

Word Origin and History for razorback

n.

type of pig with a sharp ridge-like back, 1849, from razor (n.) + back (n.). Especially of feral hogs in the U.S. South. Also used of narrow ridges of land.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper