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springbok

[spring-bok]
noun, plural spring·boks, (especially collectively) spring·bok.
  1. a gazelle, Antidorcas marsupialis, of southern Africa, noted for its habit of springing into the air when alarmed.
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Origin of springbok

1765–75; < Afrikaans. See spring, buck1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for springbok

Historical Examples

  • It is nearly thirty feet wide, but that is nothing to a springbok.

    Allan's Wife

    H. Rider Haggard

  • We ourselves, however, preferred the more delicate meat of the springbok.

    Adventures in Africa

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Springbok, why, there must be thousands and thousands of them.

    The Mission; or Scenes in Africa

    Captain Frederick Marryat

  • The victims caught in these traps were chiefly eland, hartebeeste, and springbok.

    Basutoland

    Minnie Martin

  • Some of these, no doubt, referred to the Springbok speculation.

British Dictionary definitions for springbok

springbok

less commonly springbuck

noun plural -bok, -boks, -buck or -bucks
  1. an antelope, Antidorcas marsupialis, of semidesert regions of southern Africa, which moves in leaps exposing a patch of white erectile hairs on the rump that are usually covered by a fold of skin
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Word Origin

C18: from Afrikaans, from Dutch springen to spring + bok goat, buck 1

Springbok

noun
  1. a person who has represented South Africa at rugby union
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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 springbok

n.

1775, from Afrikaans, from spring "to leap" (from Middle Dutch springhen, see spring (v.)) + bok "antelope," from Middle Dutch boc (see buck (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper