camels

Noun (1)

camel (plural camels)

1. A mammalian beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.
   • Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe,
     That we may trauell into Siria, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...

   Synonyms:

   oont, ship of the desert

2. A light brownish color, like that of a camel (also called camel brown).
3. (typically in the plural) A vessel or tank, typically paired, used to make an object more buoyant.
   • Near-synonym: pontoon

   Synonyms:

   sea camel, caisson, pontoon

4. (ethnic, slur) A person of Middle Eastern origin.
5. A fairy chess piece that is moved three squares in one direction and one at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.
   • The fers and camel can reach all the cells of one colour. The others are more restricted; the dummy cannot move at all, and the commuter can only move back and forth between two cells.2010 August 21, G. P. Jelliss, “Simple Chess Variants”, in Mayhematics, page 9

Noun (2)

camel (plural camels)

1. (South Africa, obsolete) Synonym of giraffe.

   Synonyms:

   giraffe

See all 9 meanings of camel