rinkhals, noun
/ˈrəŋkals/
- Forms:
-
α. ringel-hals, ringhals;
β. Show more ringeaault, ringkhals, rinkals, rinkhals.
Also with initial capital.
- Plurals:
- unchanged, or rinkhalses.
- Origin:
- Afrikaans, South African Dutch, DutchShow more Afrikaans rinkhals, earlier South African Dutch ringhals, rinkhals, from Dutch ring (earlier rinc) ring + hals, neck.
1. The large venomous spitting-cobra Hemachatus haemachatus of the Elapidae, brown or black in colour and distinguished by one or two white rings round the neck; spitting snake; spurting snake; spuugslang. Also attributive. See also Cape cobra (Cape sense 2 a).
α.
1793 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 208A colonist had been bitten in the foot..by a serpent, of the species called Ringhals (or Ring-neck).
1989 V. Owen in Grocott’s Mail 20 Jan. 11Snakes were a part of our lives and I imagine we saw one just about every day of our lives — lots of ringhals, few boomslang or Cape cobra and now and then a puffadder.
β.
[1836 A.F. Gardiner Journey to Zoolu Country 330I saw a dark coloured, thick-bodied snake, about five feet long, with a wide flat head..It is, I believe, of the species called by the Dutch the ‘wrinkle snake’.]
1991 Light Yrs Vol.2 No.3, 8Wear glasses or sunglasses since the rinkhals is a spitting snake, which aims for the eyes with deadly precision, causing intense pain and even blindness.
2. obsolete. In full ringhals kraai /-ˈkrɑːɪ/ [Dutch kraai crow, raven]: the white-necked raven Corvus albicollis of the Corvidae, black with a white band round the neck.
- Note:
- In this sense found only in the obsolete form ringhals.
α.
1796 E. Helme tr. of F. Le Vaillant’s Trav. II. 34Its..plumage is black, but, having a white patch on the hinder part of the neck, it has thence, in the colonies, received the appellation of ring-hals-kraai (ring-neck crow).
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 248The common white necked raven, or ringhals, is well known all over the country. It feeds on carrion, small animals, and ticks.
The large venomous spitting-cobra Hemachatus haemachatus of the Elapidae, brown or black in colour and distinguished by one or two white rings round the neck; spitting snake; spurting snake; spuugslang. Also attributive.
In full ringhals kraai /-ˈkrɑːɪ/ [Dutch kraai crow, raven]:the white-necked raven Corvus albicollis of the Corvidae, black with a white band round the neck.
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