‖wolf, noun2
/vɔlf/
- Forms:
- Also woolf.
- Origin:
- South African DutchShow more South African Dutch wolf hyaena (combining form wolwe-).
Used attributively in combinations:
wolf gif/-xəf/ (and formerly wolfgift), also wolwegif/ˈvɔlvəˌxəf/ [South African Dutch, gif, gift poison], poison used to kill hyaenas and jackals; a plant from which such poison is made;
wolf hok/-hɔk/ [Afrikaans, hok pen], wolf huis/-hœɪs/, also wolvehuis/ˈvɔlvəhœɪs/ [Dutch, huis house], a small building used as a trap for hyaenas and jackals; occasionally in dimunitive form wolfhuisie/-hœɪs(i)/ [see -ie].
1790 W. Paterson Narr. of Four Journeys 171A small shrubby plant, producing a nut, called by the Dutch, Woolf Gift, or Wolf Poison, which they use for poisoning Hyenas.
1957 L.G. Green Beyond City Lights 165The old wolfhuisie, baited with a live sheep, last caught a hyena in 1819, but it still remains on the farm as a museum-piece.

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