GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 3 definitions

  1.       
    
    Tasmanian , a. Of or pertaining to Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Tasmania; specifically (Ethnol.), in the plural, the race of men that formerly inhabited Tasmania, but is now extinct.
    1913 Webster

    Tasmanian cider tree. (Bot.) See the Note under Eucalyptus. -- Tasmanian devil. (Zool.) See under Devil. -- Tasmanian wolf (Zool.), a savage carnivorous marsupial; -- called also zebra wolf. See Zebra wolf, under Wolf.

    1913 Webster

  2.       
    
    Wolf , n.; pl. Wolves . [OE. wolf, wulf, AS. wulf; akin to OS. wulf, D. & G. wolf, Icel. ūlfr, Sw. ulf, Dan. ulv, Goth. wulfs, Lith. vilkas, Russ. volk', L. lupus, Gr. λύκος, Skr. vṛka; also to Gr. ἕλκειν to draw, drag, tear in pieces. √286. Cf. Lupine, a., Lyceum.]
    1913 Webster
    1. (Zool.) Any one of several species of carnivorous mammal belonging to the genus Canis (family Canidae) and closely allied to the common dog. The best-known and most destructive species are the European wolf (Canis lupus), the American gray, or timber, wolf (Canis occidentalis), and the prairie wolf, more commonly called coyote. Wolves often hunt in packs, and may thus attack large animals and, rarely, even man.
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      +
      PJC
    2. (Zool.) One of the destructive, and usually hairy, larvae of several species of beetles and grain moths; as, the bee wolf.
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    3. Fig.: Any very ravenous, rapacious, or destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation; as, they toiled hard to keep the wolf from the door.
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    4. A white worm, or maggot, which infests granaries.
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    5. An eating ulcer or sore. Cf. Lupus. [Obs.]
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      If God should send a cancer upon thy face, or a wolf into thy side.
      Jer. Taylor.

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    6. (Mus.) (a) The harsh, howling sound of some of the chords on an organ or piano tuned by unequal temperament. (b) In bowed instruments, a harshness due to defective vibration in certain notes of the scale.
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    7. (Textile Manuf.) A willying machine.
      Knight.

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      Black wolf. (Zool.) (a) A black variety of the European wolf which is common in the Pyrenees. (b) A black variety of the American gray wolf. -- Golden wolf (Zool.), the Thibetan wolf (Canis laniger); -- called also chanco. -- Indian wolf (Zool.), an Asiatic wolf (Canis pallipes) which somewhat resembles a jackal. Called also landgak. -- Prairie wolf (Zool.), the coyote. -- Sea wolf. (Zool.) See in the Vocabulary. -- Strand wolf (Zool.) the striped hyena. -- Tasmanian wolf (Zool.), the zebra wolf. -- Tiger wolf (Zool.), the spotted hyena. -- To keep the wolf from the door, to keep away poverty; to prevent starvation. See Wolf, 3, above. Tennyson. -- Wolf dog. (Zool.) (a) The mastiff, or shepherd dog, of the Pyrenees, supposed by some authors to be one of the ancestors of the St. Bernard dog. (b) The Irish greyhound, supposed to have been used formerly by the Danes for chasing wolves. (c) A dog bred between a dog and a wolf, as the Eskimo dog. -- Wolf eel (Zool.), a wolf fish. -- Wolf fish (Zool.), any one of several species of large, voracious marine fishes of the genus Anarrhichas, especially the common species (Anarrhichas lupus) of Europe and North America. These fishes have large teeth and powerful jaws. Called also catfish, sea cat, sea wolf, stone biter, and swinefish. -- Wolf net, a kind of net used in fishing, which takes great numbers of fish. -- Wolf's peach (Bot.), the tomato, or love apple (Lycopersicum esculentum). -- Wolf spider (Zool.), any one of numerous species of running ground spiders belonging to the genus Lycosa, or family Lycosidae. These spiders run about rapidly in search of their prey. Most of them are plain brown or blackish in color. See Illust. in App. -- Zebra wolf (Zool.), a savage carnivorous marsupial (Thylacinus cynocephalus) native of Tasmania; -- called also Tasmanian wolf.

      1913 Webster

  3.       
    
    Zebra , n. [Pg. zebra; cf. Sp. cebra; probably from a native African name.] (Zool.) Any member of three species of African wild horses remarkable for having the body white or yellowish white, and conspicuously marked with dark brown or brackish bands.
    1913 Webster

    ☞ The true or mountain zebra (Equus zebra syn. Asinus zebra) is nearly white, and the bands which cover the body and legs are glossy black. Its tail has a tuft of black hair at the tip. It inhabits the mountains of Central and Southern Africa, and is noted for its wariness and wildness, as well as for its swiftness. The second species (Equus Burchellii syn. Asinus Burchellii or Equus quagga), known as Burchell's zebra, plains zebra, and dauw, is the most abundant, inhabiting the grassy plains of tropical and southern Africa, and differing from the preceding in not having dark bands on the legs, while those on the body are more irregular. It has a long tail, covered with long white flowing hair. Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi) is distinct from the others in being placed in the subgenus Dolichohippus, whereas the plains and mountain zebras are placed in the subgenus Hippotigris. More on zebras can be found at:
    https://web.archive.org/web/20070415145340/http://www.imh.org/imh/bw/zebra.html

    1913 Webster
    +PJC

    Zebra caterpillar, the larva of an American noctuid moth (Mamestra picta). It is light yellow, with a broad black stripe on the back and one on each side; the lateral stripes are crossed with withe lines. It feeds on cabbages, beets, clover, and other cultivated plants. -- Zebra opossum, the zebra wolf. See under Wolf. -- Zebra parrakeet, an Australian grass parrakeet, often kept as a cage bird. Its upper parts are mostly pale greenish yellow, transversely barred with brownish black crescents; the under parts, rump, and upper tail coverts, are bright green; two central tail feathers and the cheek patches are blue. Called also canary parrot, scallop parrot, shell parrot, and undulated parrot. -- Zebra poison (Bot.), a poisonous tree (Euphorbia arborea) of the Spurge family, found in South Africa. Its milky juice is so poisonous that zebras have been killed by drinking water in which its branches had been placed, and it is also used as an arrow poison. J. Smith (Dict. Econ. Plants). -- Zebra shark. Same as Tiger shark, under Tiger. -- Zebra spider, a hunting spider. -- Zebra swallowtail, a very large North American swallow-tailed butterfly (Iphiclides ajax), in which the wings are yellow, barred with black; -- called also ajax. -- Zebra wolf. See under Wolf.

    1913 Webster

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