Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A mammal (Proteles cristatus) of southern and eastern Africa, similar to a hyena but feeding mainly on termites and insect larvae.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I started with aardvark, calling it a burrowing insectivorous mammal, then aardwolf, a hyena-like mammal, making my way to acclimate—to accustom or become accustomed to new surroundings or circumstances.
The Beautiful Miscellaneous Dominic Smith 2007
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I started with aardvark, calling it a burrowing insectivorous mammal, then aardwolf, a hyena-like mammal, making my way to acclimate—to accustom or become accustomed to new surroundings or circumstances.
The Beautiful Miscellaneous Dominic Smith 2007
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And in late 2004, when a new CIA station chief—the successor to the officer pulled in December 2003—wrote another aardwolf reporting on the deadly conditions in Iraq, his political allegiances were quickly questioned by the White House, CIA officials later learned.
State of War James Risen 2006
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Senior U.S. military officers in Baghdad bitterly complained that they had been “blindsided” by the aardwolf, and tensions grew between the CIA and the Pentagon.
State of War James Risen 2006
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The August aardwolf said that the UN bombing was part of a strategy by a new and bold insurgency to discredit and isolate the U.S.-led coalition, and warned that insurgents and terrorists had the capability to carry many more attacks against “soft targets.”
State of War James Risen 2006
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The aardwolf clearly caught the attention of the White House and Pentagon.
State of War James Risen 2006
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As of early November 2003, the aardwolf explained, the insurgency in central and northern Iraq was gaining momentum and beginning to tip the balance against the Americans.
State of War James Risen 2006
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Top CIA officials initially praised the November aardwolf, and one told the Baghdad station chief that it was the best aardwolf he had ever read.
State of War James Risen 2006
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Coming so soon after the euphoria in Washington over the toppling of Saddam, the August aardwolf seemed to many within the Bush administration to be far too negative.
State of War James Risen 2006
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“When I read that November aardwolf,” said a CIA official who knew the Baghdad station chief, “I thought that he was committing career suicide.”
State of War James Risen 2006
john commented on the word aardwolf
"The most solitary of all the spotted hyena’s relatives is the aardwolf. Instead of hunting or scavenging meat, they have shifted to a diet of termites. A male and female aardwolf will live as a monogamous pair, caring for their young and defending their termite mounds from intruders."
- The New York Times, March 4, 2008
March 5, 2008
sionnach commented on the word aardwolf
What a delightful portrait of domestic bliss. These charming reformed carnivores sound like true aardapples of the earth. Or maybe I mean aardcucumbers:
ethel the quantity-surveying aardvark goes for a nosh
Not as cute as those baby watermelon tapirs though.
March 5, 2008
cricket commented on the word aardwolf
Sionnach, I'm not sure I even wanna know what you mean by aardcucumber...
March 5, 2008
reesetee commented on the word aardwolf
Aardcucumbers must be cute, though. One can only imagine.
But still not as cute as an ambulatory watermelon.
March 5, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word aardwolf
Sionnach, please add aardcucumber if you haven't already.
Thanks,
Ethel.
March 6, 2008