dik-dik

[ dik-dik ]

/ ˈdɪkˌdɪk /

any antelope of the genus Madoqua or Rhynchotragus, of eastern and southwestern Africa, growing only to 14 inches (36 cm) high at the shoulder.

Origin of dik-dik

First recorded in 1880–85; said to be a name imitative of the animal's cry, but language of orig. not ascertained

After I had gone a little way a dik-dik crossed the dry river-bed in front of me; I fired at him, but it was too long a shot.

Sport in Abyssinia |Dermot Mayo
At the time the dik-dik came out I heard pigs grunting in a little dell below me, but I could not see them at all.

Sport in Abyssinia |Dermot Mayo
They are all small, the dik-dik being scarcely larger than a rabbit, and they are divided into as many subspecies as the duiker.

In Africa |John T. McCutcheon
For instance, there's the oribi and the dik-dik, to say nothing of the steinbuck and the klipspringer.

In Africa |John T. McCutcheon

Going through the jungle I put up a dik-dik hind; this animal trotted away out of shot range, and then stopped and looked at me.

Sport in Abyssinia |Dermot Mayo

dik-dik

/ (ˈdɪkˌdɪk) /

any small antelope of the genus Madoqua, inhabiting semiarid regions of Africa, having an elongated muzzle and, in the male, small stout horns

C19: an East African name, probably of imitative origin