yellow, adjective

In special collocations.
a. In the names of fauna:
yellow-bill [translation of Afrikaans geelbek], in full yellow-bill duck, yellow-billed duck, the geelbek (sense 2), Anas undulata;
yellow cobra, or (obsolete) yellow serpent, yellow snake [translation of South African Dutch geelslang from Dutch geel yellow + slang snake], the Cape Cobra (see Cape sense 2 a), Naja nivea;
yellow steenbras, see steenbras sense b.
1906 Stark & Sclater Birds of S. Afr. IV. 134Anas undulata, Geelbec or Yellow Bill.
1967 E. Rosenthal Encycl. of Sn Afr. 158Duck,..Water bird well represented in South Africa. Varieties include Yellowbill (or Geelbek) [etc.].
1920 F.C. Cornell Glamour of Prospecting 80 (Swart)We saw..an occasional geel capel (yellow cobra).
1786 G. Forster tr. of A. Sparrman’s Voy. to Cape of G.H. I. 200The quivers..are lined about the aperture with..the skin of the yellow serpent, which is considered as the most venomous of any in that country.
1790 W. Paterson Narr. of Four Journeys 75We saw..the Yellow Snake, or Covra [sic] Capel.
1819 G.M. Keith Voy. 70The yellow snake..differs in colour only from the hooded snake of India, and being from four to eight feet in length, their size and bright yellow colour render it easy to avoid them.
1839 J.E. Alexander Exped. into Int. I. 27In clambering among the rocks we saw..a yellow-snake.
1866 J. Leyland Adventures 23A Cobra-de-capello, known as the Yellow Snake in the Colony, sprang out, erected itself and came after me.
1886 G.A. Farini Through Kalahari Desert 451We saw a large yellow snake, that was rapid in his movements, always disappearing into a katteah or meer-cat’s hole before we could get near enough to dispatch it..They called it a Jill slange, or yellow snake.
b. Geology. Diamond-mining. yellow ground or (less commonly) yellow soil, weathered layers of blue ground which is at surface level and has turned yellow as a result of oxidization.
1887 J.W. Matthews Incwadi Yami 179The ‘yellow ground’ only extends to a certain depth; this is friable, and was easily broken by means of shovels and clubs.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 568Yellow ground, The ground in the Pipe..of the Kimberley Diamond Mine lying on top of the Blue ground..was so called by the diggers because of its colour.
1937 H. Sauer Ex Afr. 45During the first couple of years the top friable yellow ground, was exclusively worked.
1946 S. Cloete Afr. Portraits 136After the bottom of the yellow ground had been struck..the real wealth had been found to lie..below it in the hard blue clay.
1968 J.T. McNish Rd to El Dorado 241This was the first known instance of yellow ground found on the diamond fields.
1973 A. Hocking Diamonds 6Gradually the diggers puzzled out the real character of the mines they had stumbled on:..the yellow ground near the surface was in fact only weathered blue-ground.
1985 A.J.A. Janse in Glover & Harris Kimberlite Occurrence & Origin 23When diggers found that much harder compact blue ground underlay the yellow ground, many sold out.
1882 J. Nixon Among Boers 146The yellow-soil..is characteristic of the Diamond Fields region.
1897 F.R. Statham S. Afr. as It Is 190The workers who had gone deepest — perhaps some sixty feet — suddenly found that the yellow soil from which they had been extracting diamonds came to a stop.
c. In cookery: yellow rice, rice prepared with turmeric and raisins, a feature of traditional Cape Malay and Afrikaner cookery; begrafnisrys; funeral rice; geelrys.
1890 A.G. Hewitt Cape Cookery 55Yellow Rice to be Eaten with Roast Meat.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 204Rice (Yellow). (Malay Recipe.)
1910 S. Afr. ‘Inquire Within’ (Cape Times) 34Yellow Rice. One pound of washed rice, half a pound of currants washed and picked, quarter of an ounce of turmeric dissolved in a cupful of water, and a stick of cinnamon.
1930 M. Raubenheimer Tested S. Afr. Recipes 84Yellow or Curried Rice (Cape Dish).
1935 P. Smith Platkops Children 77It was roasted hens an’ roasted mutton..an’ yellow rice with raisin in it.
1964 J. Meintjes Manor House 49Peas, cauliflower, roast potatoes, yellow rice with raisins, [etc.].
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 261Your most typical dishes — yellow rice, sosaties and biltong — are Malay.
1979 Weekend Argus 10 Mar. (Sect. 7)Bobotie...Serve with yellow rice with raisins and a fruit chutney.
1990 S. Gray in Staffrider Vol.9 No.1, 50This trencher duly arrived..: mounds of yellow rice.
yellow ground or (less commonly) yellow soil,weathered layers of blue ground which is at surface level and has turned yellow as a result of oxidization.
yellow rice, rice prepared with turmeric and raisins, a feature of traditional Cape Malay and Afrikaner cookery; begrafnisrys; funeral rice; geelrys.
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17861990

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obsolete or obsolescent
slang
yebo, adverbadv.yellowfish, nounn.
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