ratel

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“
I know not; neither did the ratel--nor care much, for the matter of that.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A carnivorous mammal (Mellivora capensis) of Africa and Asia, having short legs and a thick coat that is dark below and whitish above. Also called honey badger.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (24)

  • The Fisi ea bahari, probably the seal, is abundant in the seas, but the ratel or badger probably furnished the skins for the Tabernacle: bees escape from his urine, and he eats their honey in safety; lions and all other animals fear his attacks of the heel. —  The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume II, 1869-1873
  • Should this prove to be in a tree and out of reach--for the ratel is not a climber--the animal vents his chagrin by tearing at the trunk with his teeth, as if he had hopes of felling the tree. —  Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys
  • The result was rather curious--it was also the ratel, or honey-badger, who had nothing at all to do with rats, but everything to do with honey, and was self-evidently more than three-parts badger Kru-tshee! —  The Way of the Wild
  • Once a serval cat, all legs and ears and agility, stood in their path to listen to the funny chuckling, whistling noises, but fled when it saw the little, low ratel as if it had seen a ghost But always undeterred by anything in the way, engrossed utterly on the task in view, the dusky bird flew ahead, calling the ratel on with its harsh cry; and always the ratel, unhurried and cool, jogged along in its wake, answering, and whistling, and chuckling away to it, as if convulsed with inward merriment. —  The Way of the Wild
  • Then he stopped as instantly still as if he had been electrocuted The ratel, who had himself to feed, and a wounded wife and two young whom he would lead to that honey-feast anon, looked calmly over his shoulder at the form of the antelope towering above him. —  The Way of the Wild
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Afrikaans, from Middle Dutch, rattle, honeycomb (either from its cry or its taste for honey).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from French ratel, diminutive of rat, a rat: see rat.
 

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/ˈrɑtɛl/
by American Heritage

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