‖klipdas, noun

/ˈkləpdas/
Plurals:
unchanged.
Origin:
South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, klip rock + das hyrax.
Either of two species of hyrax: a. The dassie (sense 1 a), Procavia capensis. b. The dassie (sense 1 b), Heterohyrax brucei.
Note:
It is possible that the plural forms dasses or dassen (see das) also occur but have not been recorded.
c1808 C. von Linné System of Nat. Hist. VIII. 52A small quadruped very common among these barren mountains..called klip-das by the colonists at the Cape.
1853 Edin. New Philos. Jrnl (U.K.) LV. 214Basking themselves on the sunny side of the krantzes..may generally be seen several of the Klipdas, Cony, Rock Rabbit, or Cape Hyrax (H. capensis).
[1886 P. Gillmore Hunter’s Arcadia 248From this descendant of Holland..I bought the skins of some rock rabbits, the klip das of the Dutch.]
1900 H.A. Bryden Animals of Afr. 57The rock-rabbit or hyrax, known all over South Africa by its Boer name, Dassie, which is a diminutive of Klip das (literally, rock-badger),..is a most amusing and interesting little beast.
1953 J.R. Ellerman et al. Afr. Mammals 157Procavia capensis Pallas, 1766. Dassie; Hyrax, Klipdas. Distribution: one of the commonest mammals in the Union.
The dassie (sense 1 a), Procavia capensis.
The dassie (sense 1 b), Heterohyrax brucei.
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klip-buck, nounn.klipfish, nounn.
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