wonder, noun

Origin:
EnglishShow more Special senses of general English.
1. Wonder of the Waste, Wonder of the Wilderness: naras.
1915 W. Eveleigh S.W. Afr. 56The curious Naras, Acanthosicyos horrida, has been well termed the ‘Wonder of the Waste,’ for this scrubby, leafless member of the order Cucurbitacea spreads over the sand dunes in dense straggling masses, defying all the sandstorms that threaten to bury it.
1969 J.M. White Land God Made in Anger 107Naras, known as the ‘Wonder of the Wilderness’ pokes itself out of the sand in the shape of a half-buried coil of barbed wire. It has no leaves, but wicked two-inch thorns. From it sprouts a green fruit, the size of a man’s fist which is kept alive by a tap root going down forty or fifty feet.
1976 O. Levinson Story of Namibia 3The wind blows over the dry river-bed of the Kuiseb and the straggling patches of thorny bush, called Naras or ‘Wonder of the Waste’.
2. Special Combination wonderbox, also with initial capital, a cardboard or wooden box containing a polystyrene-filled bag or other insulating material, into which a pot of hot, partially-cooked food may be placed so that the cooking process is completed over a long period without further application of heat. Also attributive.
Note:
Intended to provide a safe and fuel-efficient means of cooking for the poor.
1985 Fair Lady 6 Feb. 82Abby sets off..loaded..with..the trappings of her role as health educator — soya beans, demonstration kits, cooking pots, wonder boxes.
1986 Style June 90The Wonderbox Women...The core symbol of WFP’s brand of down-home pacifism is a thing called the Wonderbox...The Wonderbox is sold for R15 to those who can afford it; others are shown how to make their own using readily-available materials.
1989 A.L. Sarzin in Femina Dec. 79Both women worked with..Women for Peace, selling ‘Wonderboxes’ in Johannesburg.
Wonder of the Waste, Wonder of the Wilderness: naras.
Special Combination wonderbox, also with initial capital,a cardboard or wooden box containing a polystyrene-filled bag or other insulating material, into which a pot of hot, partially-cooked food may be placed so that the cooking process is completed over a long period without further application of heat. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19151989

Browse Related Words

By Category

Bushes and Shrubs
Foods and Dishes

By Origin

English
wolf, nounn.2wonderboom, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English