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giraffe

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
gi·raffe  (j-rf)
n. pl. gi·raffes or giraffe
An African ruminant mammal (Giraffa camelopardalis) having a very long neck and legs, a tan coat with orange-brown to black blotches, and short horns. It is the tallest land animal, often reaching a height of 5 meters (16 1/2 feet), and feeds principally by browsing in the tree canopy of wooded grasslands.

[French girafe, from Italian giraffa, from Arabic dialectal zirfa, probably of African origin.]

gi·raffish adj.

giraffe
Noun
a cud-chewing African mammal with a very long neck and long legs and a spotted yellowy skin [Arabic zarāfah]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.giraffegiraffe - tallest living quadruped; having a spotted coat and small horns and very long neck and legs; of savannahs of tropical Africa
ruminant - any of various cud-chewing hoofed mammals having a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments
genus Giraffa, Giraffa - type genus of the Giraffidae
okapi, Okapia johnstoni - similar to the giraffe but smaller with much shorter neck and stripe on the legs
Translations
Spanish giraffe [dʒɪˈrɑːf] njirafa
French giraffe [dʒɪˈrɑːf] ngirafe f
German giraffe [dʒɪˈrɑːf] nGiraffe f
Italian giraffe [dʒɪˈrɑːf] ngiraffa

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By some extraordinary chance the ball struck it full on the back of the neck, shattering the spinal column, and that giraffe went rolling head over heels just like a rabbit.
The Mylodon, moreover, was furnished with a long extensile tongue like that of the giraffe, which, by one of those beautiful provisions of nature, thus reaches with the aid of its long neck its leafy food.
And never having been anywhere in the world but in Africa, Nantucket, and the pagan harbors most frequented by whalemen; and having now led for many years the bold life of the fishery in the ships of owners uncommonly heedful of what manner of men they shipped; daggoo retained all his barbaric virtues, and erect as a giraffe, moved about the decks in all the pomp of six feet five in his socks.
 
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