cam·el

(kăm′əl)

1. Either of two chiefly domesticated ruminant mammals of the genus Camelus, the Bactrian camel or the dromedary, having a humped back and long neck, and used in northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia as a beast of burden and a source of wool, milk, and meat.

2. A device used to raise sunken objects, consisting of a hollow structure that is submerged, attached tightly to the object, and pumped free of water. Also called caisson.

3. Sports A spin in figure skating that is performed in an arabesque or modified arabesque position.

4. A tan or yellowish brown.

[Middle English, from Old English and from Anglo-Norman cameil, both from Latin camēlus, from Greek kamēlos, of Semitic origin; see gml in Semitic roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

camel

(ˈkæməl)

1. (Animals) either of two cud-chewing artiodactyl mammals of the genus Camelus: family Camelidae. They are adapted for surviving long periods without food or water in desert regions, esp by using humps on the back for storing fat. See Arabian camel, Bactrian camel

2. (General Engineering) a float attached to a vessel to increase its buoyancy. See also caisson³

3. (Nautical Terms) a raft or float used as a fender between a vessel and a wharf

4. (Colours)

a. a fawn colour

b. (as adjective): a camel dress.

[Old English, from Latin camēlus, from Greek kamēlos, of Semitic origin; related to Arabic jamal]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cam•el

(ˈkæm əl)

n.

1. either of two large, humped ruminants of the genus Camelus, of the Old World. Compare Bactrian camel, dromedary.

2. a color ranging from yellowish tan to yellowish brown.

3. a spin in skating done in an arabesque position.

4. a float for increasing the buoyancy of a laden vessel.

[before 950; Middle English, Old English < Latin camēlus < Greek kámēlos < Semitic; compare Hebrew gāmāl]

cam′el•like`, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

camel - cud-chewing mammal used as a draft or saddle animal in desert regions

artiodactyl, artiodactyl mammal, even-toed ungulate - placental mammal having hooves with an even number of functional toes on each foot

Camelus, genus Camelus - type genus of the Camelidae: camels

Arabian camel, Camelus dromedarius, dromedary - one-humped camel of the hot deserts of northern Africa and southwestern Asia

Bactrian camel, Camelus bactrianus - two-humped camel of the cold deserts of central Asia

Translations

جَمَل

камила

velbloud

kamel

Kamel Trampeltier

καμήλα

kamelo

camello dromedario

kaamel

شتر

kameli

chameau

devakamila

teve

unta

úlfaldiúlfaldi: drómedari ; kameldÿr

cammello

ラクダ駱駝

낙타

camelacamelus

kupranugaris

kamielis

cămilă

ťavadromedár

kamelavelblod

kameldromedar

ngamia

อูฐ

devehecin

верблюд

con lạc đàlạc đà

骆驼

camel

[ˈkæməl]

A. N

1. (= animal) → camello m

2. (= colour) → color m camello

B. CPD camel coat N (also camelhair coat) → abrigo m de pelo de camello
camel hair N → pelo m de camello

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

camel

[ˈkæm^əl] n → chameau mcamel hair camel's hair [ˈkæm^əlz] modif [brush, coat] → en poil de chameau

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

camel

n → Kamel nt

attr (= colour) coat → kamelhaarfarben

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

camel

[ˈkæm/əl]

1. n → cammello

2. adj (colour) → color cammello inv

camel

(ˈkӕməl) noun

a desert animal with one (dromedary (ˈdromədəri) ) or two (bactrian (camel) (ˈbӕktriən) ) humps on its back, used for carrying goods and/or people.

camel

→ جَمَل velbloud kamel Kamel καμήλα camello kameli chameau deva cammello ラクダ 낙타 kameel kamel wielbłąd camelo верблюд kamel อูฐ deve con lạc đà 骆驼

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

I could not rest as long as one solitary camel remained to the dervish; and returning to him I redoubled my prayers and embraces, and promises of eternal gratitude, till the last twenty were in my hands.

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Three metamorphoses of the spirit do I designate to you: how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child.

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Can we carry it in a box upon a camel? If we can we will buy it."--"Upon a camel!" says the old pilot, holding up both his hands; "why, there is a family of thirty people lives in it."

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He made all,-- Thorn for the camel, fodder for the kine, And mother's heart for sleepy head, O little son of mine!

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Our camel drivers getting together to consult on this occasion, we suspected they had some ill design in hand, and got ready our weapons; they perceived our apprehensions, and set us at ease by letting us know the reason of their consultation.

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THE CAMEL, when he saw the Bull adorned with horns, envied him and wished that he himself could obtain the same honors.

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The Alderman, being of a sensitive, retiring disposition, shrank from further comparison, and, strolling to another part of the garden, stole the camel.

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They keep a Whale's Rib of an incredible length for a Miracle, which lying upon the Ground with its convex part uppermost, makes an Arch, the Head of which cannot be reached by a Man upon a Camel's Back.

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I had carefully prepared myself to take rather a back seat in that ship because of the uncommonly select material that would alone be permitted to pass through the camel's eye of that committee on credentials; I had schooled myself to expect an imposing array of military and naval heroes and to have to set that back seat still further back in consequence of it maybe; but I state frankly that I was all unprepared for this crusher.

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The gold and silver camels, and the ice- pails, and the rest of the Veneering table decorations, make a brilliant show, and when I, Podsnap, casually remark elsewhere that I dined last Monday with a gorgeous caravan of camels, I find it personally offensive to have it hinted to me that they are broken- kneed camels, or camels labouring under suspicion of any sort.

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"No, not many camels; they are scarce, if not altogether unknown, in these regions.

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One time Tom sent a boy to run about town with a blazing stick, which he called a slogan (which was the sign for the Gang to get together), and then he said he had got secret news by his spies that next day a whole parcel of Spanish merchants and rich A-rabs was going to camp in Cave Hollow with two hundred elephants, and six hundred camels, and over a thousand "sumter" mules, all loaded down with di'monds, and they didn't have only a guard of four hundred soldiers, and so we would lay in ambuscade, as he called it, and kill the lot and scoop the things.

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