rhebok, noun

/ˈriːbɔk/, /ˈriːbɒk/
Forms:
α. raybok, rebokShow more raybok, rebok, reebock, reebok, rehbock, rehbok, reibock, rheabok, rhebok, rhee-boc, rhee-bock, rhy-bôk; ‖
β. ribbok /ˈrəbɔk/.
Plurals:
unchanged, (occasionally) rheboks.
Origin:
South African Dutch, Dutch, AfrikaansShow more South African Dutch rhebok, transferred use of Dutch reebok the male of the roe-deer Capreolus capreolus. (The modern Afrikaans form is ribbok, plural ribbokke /bɔkə/.)
1. Either of two species of antelope of the Bovidae, especially Pelea capreolus. a. The small grey antelope Pelea capreolus with very long, narrow, pointed ears and soft, thick, greyish-brown hair; grey rhebok, see sense 2 below; grey rhebuck, see rhebuck sense 2; rhebuck sense 1 a; roebuck sense a; vaal rhebok sense (b), see sense 2 below; vaal rhebuck, see rhebuck sense 2. b. rare. The mountain reedbuck (see reedbuck sense 2), Redunca fulvorufula.
α.
1776 F. Masson in Phil. Trans. of Royal Soc. LXVI. 270I spent a whole day..hunting a sort of antelope called Ree Bock; but had no success.
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. II. 221The ree-bok is a gregarious animal, two feet in height. The predominant colour of it is an ash-colour, somewhat resembling that of a hare, but a little inclining to red.
1796 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. II. 44Ree-boks, Rietboks (Capra) and Bonteboks..frequented much these hilly and verdant fields.
1810 G. Barrington Acct of Voy. 282The ree-bok is the most remarkable; its size is that of the domestic goat, though much more elegantly made. The colour is a bluish grey; the belly and breast white; horns..annulated or ringed about a third part of the length from the base.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches 22The Reebok (Antelope Capreolus or Villosa), abounding in..the mountainous country around, is one of the smaller species of antelopes.
1837 ‘N. Polson’ Subaltern’s Sick Leave 119Graceful rheebok bounding over the hill tops or up their sides; every now and then..stamping with his slight forefoot and sending his peculiar whistle down the breeze.
1851 R.J. Garden Diary. I. (Killie Campbell Africana Library MS29081) 2 JulyGame such as blue, red & bush bucks, Duikers and Reh-boks abound.
1862 Lady Duff-Gordon Lett. from Cape (1925) 128I have got a rhebok and a klipspringer skin for you.
1880 E.F. Sandeman Eight Months in Ox-Waggon 92The others came down the hill, dragging between them a fine rhy-bok, about the size of a donkey, and not unlike it in colour and appearance.
1919 R.Y. Stormberg With Love from Gwenno 61We..threw stones at dassies big as small bears;..followed the spoor of rhebok; brought down partridges and rock doves.
1933 W.H.S. Bell Bygone Days 38On one occasion we were looking for reibock on the hills; we loaded one barrel with buckshot and the other with a round bullet wrapped in a bit of greased rag.
1971 Evening Post 12 June 1He already has springbok, eland, wild ostrich, rhebok and gemsbok roaming his farm and intends to add black wildebeest.
1987 B. Moodie in Motorist 2nd Quarter 16The reserve..has antelope such as the duiker, steenbok, grysbok, rhebok and bontebok (about 400).
β.
1935 H.C. Bosman Mafeking Rd (1969) 86He had disembowelled the ribbok.
1953 Cape Argus 25 Apr. 8The animals include ribbok, grysbok,..and one blue wildebeest.
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo 124‘The skull is ribbok,’ he said, ‘and that’s the tibia of a buffalo.’
2. With distinguishing epithet:
grey rhebok, Pelea capreolus (see sense 1 a above);
red rhebok or rooi rhebok /rɔi-/, formerly also roode rhebok, rooye rhebok [Afrikaans rooi (earlier South African Dutch roode) red], the mountain reedbuck (see reedbuck sense 2), Redunca fulvorufula;
vaal rhebok /fɑːl-/ [Dutch, vaal pale, grey, tawny], (a) rare, the bleekbok; (b) Pelea capreolus (see sense 1 a above). Also attributive.
α.
1985 J. Deacon in S. Afr. Panorama Sept. 6The Wilton people..were specialised hunters of the grey rhebok.
1986 S. Afr. Panorama June 40Grey rhebok grazed among silver thorn bushes.
1883 M.A. Carey-Hobson Farm in Karoo 149Three beautiful light red Rehbock’s (a species of wild antelope) darted past.
c1936 S. & E. Afr. Yr Bk & Guide 1090The Red Rhebok (C. fulvorufula; Dutch, rooi reebok). Sometimes, but erroneously, called the Lesser Reedbuck.
1974 E. Prov. Herald 25 May 4He has many species of antelope including eland and red rheebok.
[1786rooi rhebok: G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 131Some of the smaller kinds of antilopes, as steenboks, klip-springers, rie-reeboks, and boschboks, run without stopping, till they are out of the hunter’s sight.]
1835 A. Steedman Wanderings I. 176We observed, at some little distance, several antelopes of the description called roode-rheebok, which were running up the mountain.
1835 A. Smith Diary (1940) II. 111A female rooye rheebok, head and greater part of neck dull rufous.
1896 R. Ward Rec. of Big Game 132The Rooi (red) Rhebok is usually found in..rough hilly country..but prefers, as a rule, the lower slopes to the highest parts of the mountain.
1939 J.B. Taylor in F.G. Butler When Boys Were Men (1969) 259The hills held vaal and rooi rhebok.
1957 Cape Argus 13 July 7I have seen a rooi-rhebok ewe battling to save her kid from an eagle.
1990 G. Haresnape in M. Leveson Firetalk 31As we near the peak, a fine rooi-rhebok runs up ahead of us.
[1824 W.J. Burchell Trav. (1953) II. 215It is found in various parts of the Cape Colony, where it is known to the Boors and Hottentots, by the name of Vaal Reebok (Fallow Roebuck).]
1896 R. Ward Rec. of Big Game 130Next to the Klipspringer, the Vaal Rhebok affords the best mountain-stalking in South Africa.
1923 S. Afr.: Land of Outdoor Life (S.A.R. & H.) 267Both the vaal and rooi rhebok are found in nearly all high and isolated mountains and hills.
1982 Flying Springbok Sept. 89The third area is closer to Greytown..and the fourth..in the Eastern Cape Province, for the bontebok, red lechwe, Vaal rhebok, black and white springbok and gemsbok.
1993 G. Etherington in Weekend Post 12 June (Leisure) 4Eland, bontebok, vaal rhebok, all seemed to have come out for their evening meal.
β.
1948 A.C. White Call of Bushveld 109A rooi ribbok (formerly spelt rheebok) of average size weighed 75 lbs.
1947 L.G. Green Tavern of Seas 154You will find the surviving vaal ribbok only in South Africa.
1957 L.G. Green Beyond City Lights 224It is the land of partridges and hares, vaal ribbok and duiker.
1982 E. Prov. Herald 14 Dec. 7The animals are steadily increasing and so far the count is 1 100 kudu, 45 eland, 50 buffalo, 40 springbok, 11 vaalribbok, [etc.].
The small grey antelope Pelea capreolus with very long, narrow, pointed ears and soft, thick, greyish-brown hair; grey rhebok, see sense 2 below; grey rhebuck, see rhebuck sense 2; rhebuck sense 1 a; roebuck sense a; vaal rhebok sense (b), see sense 2 below; vaal rhebuck, see rhebuck sense 2.
The mountain reedbuck (see reedbuck sense 2), Redunca fulvorufula.
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