giraffe

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. An African ruminant mammal (Giraffa camelopardalis) having a very long neck and legs, a tan coat with orange-brown to black blotches, and short horns. It is the tallest land animal, often reaching a height of 5 meters (16 ¹/₂ feet), and feeds principally by browsing in the tree canopy of wooded grasslands.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The camelopard, Giraffa camelopardalis or Camelopardalis giraffa, a ruminant animal inhabiting various parts of Africa, and constituting the only species of its genus and family. It is the tallest of all animals, a full-grown male reaching the height of 18 or 20 feet. This great stature is mainly due to the extraordinary length of the neck, in which, however, there are but seven vertebræ, as is usual in mammals. It has two bony excrescences on its head resembling horns covered with skin. It feeds upon the leaves of trees, which its great height and its prehensile and extensile tongue enable it to procure easily. It rarely attempts to pick up food from the ground. Its color is usually light-fawn marked with darker spots, and passing into white on the under parts and some portions of the limbs. It is a mild and inoffensive animal, and in captivity is very gentle and playful.
2. n. [capitalized] The constellation Camelopardalis.
3. n. In mining, a car of peculiar construction, used in the mines on the Comstock lode, to run on the inclines.
4. n. A kind of upright spinet, used toward the end of the eighteenth century.
5. n. Same as giraffe-fever.

Wiktionary

1. n. A ruminant, of the genus Giraffa, of the African savannah with long legs and highly elongated neck, which make it the tallest living animal; yellow fur patterned with dark spots, often in the form of network; and two or more short, skin-covered horns.
2. n. Cockney rhyming slang A laugh.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) An African ruminant (Giraffa camelopardalis formerly Camelopardalis giraffa) related to the deers and antelopes, but placed in a family (Giraffidae) by itself; the camelopard. It is the tallest of quadriped animals, being sometimes twenty feet from the hoofs to the top of the head. Its neck is very long, and its fore legs are much longer than its hind legs. There are three types, having different patterns of spots on the pelt and different territories: the Reticulated Giraffe, the Masai Giraffe, and the Uganda Giraffe. Intermediate crosses are also observed.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. tallest living quadruped; having a spotted coat and small horns and very long neck and legs; of savannahs of tropical Africa