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giraffe

UK/dʒɪˈɹɑːf/US/d͡ʒəˈɹæf/
nounB1Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,935 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: giraffes

A giraffe is the tallest animal, with a very long neck. A herd of giraffes, the giraffe's neck, feed the giraffe.

It has seven neck bones, the same number as a human, each one enormously long. Its heart is exceptionally powerful because blood must be pushed two metres up to the brain, and valves in the neck stop it rushing back when the head is lowered.

Axel Tschentscher · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of giraffe

  1. 1noungiraffeThe tallest animal, with a very long neck.B1

    “The giraffe stretched its neck to reach the leaves at the top of the tree.”

giraffe is an animal.

Where it comes from

Italian giraffa comes through Arabic from a Persian phrase meaning flute-leg. English once called the animal a camelopard.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *ḱerh₂-

  2. Middle French

    giraffe

  3. English, today

    giraffe

Borrowed from Middle French giraffe. From Middle French giraffe, from Italian giraffa, from Arabic زُرَافَة, from syc ܙܪܝܦܐ, from fa-cls زُرْنَاپَا literally “flute-leg”. camelopard.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Animals

Practise this word

giraffe in the wild

  • The distinguishing characteristics of giraffes are their extremely long neck and legs, horn-like ossicones, and spotted coat patterns.

    Giraffe

  • Lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs may prey upon giraffes.

    Giraffe

  • The okapi and the giraffe are the only living members of the family Giraffidae.

    Okapi

  • The gerenuk (Litocranius walleri), also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked, medium-sized antelope found in parts of East Africa.

    Gerenuk

  • The plot follows a young boy named Billy who meets a giraffe, a pelican, and a monkey, who work as window cleaners.

    The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.