kloof, noun
- Forms:
- Show more Also formerly cleugh, cloef, clof, cloff, cloffe, cloof, clough, clufe, cluff, clugh, kloaf, kloff, klooft, kluff, klugh.
- Origin:
- Afrikaans, South African Dutch, Middle Dutch, U.S. EnglishShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch, from Middle Dutch clove cleft (in which form it is found in U.S. English).
1. Obsolete except in place-names such as Bain’s Kloof, Brickmaker’s Kloof, Tamboerskloof: a narrow natural or man-made pass between mountains.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 18As the Lion- is separated from the Table-Hill by a small Kloof, as the Dutch call it (i.e. Cleft or Descent) so is the Wind- or Devil’s-Hill from the Lion-Hill.
1878 T.J. Lucas Camp Life & Sport 45Anon, our road led through some rocky pass, or kloof, from whose summit came the harsh grunts of the enormous baboons which regarded us with evident curiosity.
2. A (wooded) gorge or valley; a ravine running down a mountainside.
1796 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. II. p.xiiiKloof signifies a valley, or such a cleft in the mountains as is either inhabited by the Colonists, or admit of a passage through it on horseback or with a carriage of any kind.
1993 F. Van Rensburg in Getaway Nov. 93The vegetation in the protected kloof differs a lot from that of the exposed mountain slopes.
a narrow natural or man-made pass between mountains.
A (wooded) gorge or valley; a ravine running down a mountainside.
- Derivatives:
- Hence kloofing verbal noun, exploring and hiking in kloofs.1986 Argus 11 Jan.A definition of kloofing — if there is one — is hard to find, but..it is an adventure which offers excitement, exercise and outdoor fun.1990 A. Bumstead in Style June 111Last year, we tried mountain bikes (..ideal for the nearby hills and mountains around Swellendam)...Next year, who knows? Hiking? Kloofing? Pogo stick safaris.
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