Meaning of okapi | Babel Free

Definitions

A large ruminant mammal, of species Okapia johnstoni, found in the rainforests of the Congo, related to the giraffe but with a much shorter neck, a reddish-brown coat, and zebra-like stripes on the hindquarters.

Equivalents

Examples

“[page 498, column 1] [I]n leading them [African Pygmies] back to the forests where they dwelt, I obtained much information from them on the subject of the horse-like animal which they called the "Okapi." […] [page 499, column 1] The coloration of the Okapi is quite extraordinary. […] The hind quarters, hind and fore legs are either snowy white or pale cream color, touched here and there with orange. They are boldly marked, however, with purple-black stripes and splodges, which give⟳ that zebra-like appearance to the limbs of the Okapi that caused the first imperfect account of it to indicate⟳ the discovery of a new striped horse.”

“Personally I esteem it a more fascinating and a more important task to investigate⟳ the relations of the Okapi with the Giraffe on the one hand, and its fossil relatives on the other.”

“[O]ne day I quite modestly gave the dimensions of an okapi I had shot in the Lincolnshire fens. The Major turned a beautiful Tyrian scarlet (I remember⟳ thinking at the time that I should like⟳ my bathroom hung in that colour), and I think⟳ that at that moment he almost found it in his heart to dislike me.”

“Dr. [Cuthbert] Christy adds his testimony to that of his predecessors in the same quest as to the "invisibility" of the okapi, whose markings and coloration—pace Colonel Theodore Roosevelt—so break⟳ up the surface of its large body and long legs as to cause it to fuse with the dark-brown, russet, while and yellow-white of the twigs and stems and leaf-stalks amongst which it moves. He also points out that the hoofs of the okapi are so closely pressed together that the footprint is almost like⟳ that of the single-toed donkey.”

“I also took out a licence to shoot⟳ small game, costing fifty francs, which can be obtained on the spot, and under which I was able to shoot⟳ all kinds of game, excepting elephants, chimpanzis, gorillas and okapis.”

CEFR level