kaffir dog

noun

A type of hunting dog used by indigenous peoples in parts of southern Africa; (loosely), a mongrel dog.

First used 19th c.
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Meanings

nounkaffir dog (plural kaffir dogs)

plural kaffir dogs

  1. A type of hunting dog used by indigenous peoples in parts of southern Africa; (loosely), a mongrel dog.First known use 19th c.

    A stray kaffir dog, his skeleton showing clear through tight skin, lay in the pit of blue shade outside the veranda.

    1954, Doris Lessing, A Proper Marriage, HarperPerennial, published 1995, page 276
    1 more example

    Did she see a half-starved Kaffir dog look in at her kitchen door or crawl trembling towards the dresser, it was not "Furtseck," or "Get out," that she would cry, but "What a shame to starve that poor thing so!" and a piece of bread or meat was sure to be offered.

    1882, Sarah Heckford, A Lady Trader in the Transvaal, page 61
Cite this entry
APA

kaffir dog. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaffir%20dog

MLA

“kaffir dog.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaffir%20dog. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kaffir dog,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaffir%20dog.

Source: kaffir dog on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.