jackal
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jackal
- /ˈd͡ʒækəl/
Rhymes with -ækəl
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French chacal, chacale, checale, schakal, ciacale, from Turkish çakal, from Ottoman Turkish چقال (çakâl), from Classical Persian شغال (šaġāl), borrowed from Sanskrit शृगाल (śṛgāla, “jackal”), the alternative form of सृगाल (sṛgāla).
noun jackals
- Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf. In passing, it also mentions how the jackal and the tiger acquired their reddish spots. All of the animals referred to, except the deer, have tricksterlike personalities, both in this tale and in other story contexts. But the jackal is the most renowned of all for roguishness.
- A person who performs menial or routine tasks; a dogsbody. A nephew of hers, after receiving some learning at her ladyship's expence, got a commission, and fell upon the field of Waterloo; another is still at her heels, as a sort of jackall to fetch and carry when required.
- A person who behaves in an opportunistic way; especially, a base collaborator.
- A player who steals the ball at the tackle.
- A jack (the playing card).
verb jackals · jackaling · jackalling · jackaled · jackalled
- To perform menial or routine tasks They have jackalled for the great beast, to pick in turns the bones of each other; they have subserved those above, to oppress and defraud those below; and they are suffering, and, so far as classes can, justly suffering their purgation.
