skraal, adjective

/skrɑːl/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, thin; flimsy, meagre.
1. colloquial. Thin, scrawny, ‘skinny’. Also figurative, meagre.
1970 Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)The little boy is skraal and fair-haired.
1978 A.M. Smith in Contrast 46 44He’s hang of a skraal and his hair’s only short, hey.
1981 L. & P. Robertson-Hotz in Bloody Horse No.3, 37Two skraal, yellow dogs rushed out and started barking.
1991 J. Silva Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)She’s very skraal, with a dark brown bob.
1991 K. Sullivan Informant, Cape Town, Western CapeMy bank balance is skraal this month (meagre).
2. slang. Hungry.
1970 M. Bennett Informant, KrugersdorpSkraal. Hungry.
1978 L. Barnes in The 1820 Vol.51 No.12, 19If somebody says I’m skraal, he probably does not mean he is thin, as one would expect, but rather that he is hungry.
1986 L. Barnes in Eng. Usage in Sn Afr. Vol.17 No.2, 2I’m skraal — ‘I’m hungry’.
1991 K. Sullivan Informant, Cape Town, Western CapeI am feeling a bit skraal — haven’t eaten the whole day.
Thin, scrawny, ‘skinny’. Also figurative, meagre.
Hungry.
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19701991
skottel, nounn.skrik, nounn.
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