Cape buffalo
1
6.8
- noun
- South African
:
búfalo del Cabo
- They infested Cape buffalo that were by then starved for food; the herbivores couldn't find enough vegetation during the drought.
- charging Cape buffalo
- kill a Cape buffalo
- Cape buffalo hunt
Examples
-
While on safari, we saw a herd of Cape buffalo grazing peacefully near the waterhole.
-
Cape buffalo do the same thing.
-
The guide warned us that a wounded Cape buffalo could be extremely dangerous if approached.
-
During our trip to South Africa, I was amazed by the size and strength of the Cape buffalo as it roamed the savannah.
Synonyms
16
1.3
A large wild animal like a cow with horns that lives in Africa and Asia
A large African buffalo that has curved horns, lives in game reserves and is often aggressive
A large African buffalo with strong horns found in southern Africa
Surface Forms
Morphology
Cape + buffalo
This is a transparent place + animal noun phrase: knowing 'Cape' (a place name/headland) and 'buffalo' allows a learner to infer it denotes a buffalo associated with the Cape region. Such geographic modifier + animal constructions are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand the meaning.
Etymology
Cape buffalo gets its name from the 'Cape' area of South Africa, where early European travelers first saw these big, often dangerous animals. So, the name makes a clear picture of a buffalo from the Cape and today is used for that large African buffalo species.