meercat, noun

/ˈmɪəkæt/
Forms:
Formerly also mere-cat.
Origin:
South African DutchShow more Englished form of South African Dutch meerkat, see meerkat.
1. meerkat. Also attributive.
1801 J. Barrow Trav. I. 231Upon these parched plains are..found a great variety of small quadrupeds that burrow in the ground, and which are known to the colonists under the general name of meer-cats.
1873 F. Boyle To Cape for Diamonds 330We found a sick meercat by the road, the prettiest, but most ferocious little brute I ever saw. Of these animals there are several kinds, only to be classed together by their habit of living in holes upon the veldt, and standing on hind legs to survey the prospect, in a very droll manner.
1878 T.J. Lucas Camp Life & Sport 219His horse..suddenly encountered in his course a nest of mere cat holes — a nimble little animal..which lives gregariously like the prairie dog in burrows.
1880 E.F. Sandeman Eight Months in Ox-Waggon 85The holes of the ant-bear are..generally conspicuous, they do not prove so dangerous as the smaller holes of the mere-cat, a pretty little animal between a rat and a stoat, found all over South Africa.
1887 A.A. Anderson 25 Yrs in Waggon I. 65Meercats abound all over the Veldt, they are grey, some have very bushy tails, others long and smooth, but along the river-banks they are red with black tails.
1900 S.T. Plaatje Boer War Diary (1973) We dodged like a couple of meercats.
1911 L. Cohen Reminisc. of Kimberley 113The veldt was very unsafe, and one morning my pony put his foot in a merecat hole, broke his leg, and nearly broke my back.
1930 S.T. Plaatje Mhudi (1975) 136As she picked her way along the hillside, she frightened several coveys of meercats which, scampering away from her, never stopped until well out of her sight.
1945 Outspan 3 Aug. 49Leguaans and meercats.
1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life in S. Afr. 207The bushy-tailed meercat.
1964 A. Rothmann Elephant Shrew 76The common meercat has a grizzled grey-brown coat with dark cross stripes...The bushy-tailed meercat is..yellowish-brown, but its coat is more furry.
1978 C.J. Reitz Poisonous S. Afr. Snakes 5No animal is naturally completely immune to snakebite, although certain predators of snakes, such as the meercat (Suricata spp)..have an increased resistance.
1986 Sunday Times 20 July 17As a rule, nothing much happens in the vast open spaces of the Karoo. Sheep wander about aimlessly..and meercats play hide-and-seek among the dried-out bushes.
2. Mining. A vehicle developed for underground use in mines.
1979 S. Afr. Digest 19 Jan. 11The Meercat is powered by a twin-cylinder diesel engine, is fully automatic and all-hydraulic, and can be fitted with a light or heavy duty bucket, a roof bolter drill, a scissors lift, a mobile crane, and a personnel carrier.
meerkat. Also attributive.
A vehicle developed for underground use in mines.
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meelkis, nounn.meerkat, nounn.
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