jackal
/ˈd͡ʒækəl/
jackal noun: any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
Noun
jackal (plural jackals)
- Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
- In passing, it also mentions how the jackal and the tiger acquired their reddish spots. All of the animals referred to, except the deer, have tricksterlike personalities, both in this tale and in other story contexts. But the jackal is the most renowned of all for roguishness.1987, Brenda E. F. Beck, Peter J. Claus, Praphulladatta Goswami, Jawaharlal Handoo, editors, Folktales of India, page 289
- Until recently, scientists thought Ethiopian wolves were a type of jackal. They gave Ethiopian wolves names like Semien jackal, Simenian jackal, or Ethiopian jackal.2002, Fred H. Harrington, The Ethiopian Wolf, page 6
- A person who performs menial or routine tasks; a dogsbody.
- A nephew of hers, after receiving some learning at her ladyship's expence, got a commission, and fell upon the field of Waterloo; another is still at her heels, as a sort of jackall to fetch and carry when required.1819 July 1, “The Political Vis——ss”, in [John Mitford], editor, The New Bon Ton Magazine; or, Telescope of the Times, volume III, number 15, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 179
- A person who behaves in an opportunistic way; especially, a base collaborator.
- Synonyms:
- quisling, collaborationist, collaborator, collaboratress, collaboratrix, quisler
- A player who steals the ball at the tackle.
- A jack (the playing card).
Verb
jackal (third-person singular simple present jackals, present participle (US) jackaling or (UK) jackalling, simple past and past participle (US) jackaled or (UK) jackalled)
- To perform menial or routine tasks
- They have jackalled for the great beast, to pick in turns the bones of each other; they have subserved those above, to oppress and defraud those below; and they are suffering, and, so far as classes can, justly suffering their purgation.1800, Pamphlets on British Taxation
jackal meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
jackal in Hindi
- wild canine
- सियार siyār
jackal in Tamil
- குள்ளநரி
jackal in Marathi
- jackal, fox
- कोल्हा kolhā
jackal in Urdu
- wild canine
- گِیدَڑ gīdaṛ, سیار siyār
More languagesFewer languages
- jackal in Bengali
- শৃগাল srigal, শিয়াল śiẏal
- jackal in Telugu
- నక్క nakka
- jackal in Malayalam
- നരി nari, കുറുനരി kuṟunari
- jackal in Kannada
- ಗೋಮಾಯು gōmāyu, ನರಿ nari
- jackal in Punjabi
- ਗਿੱਦੜ giddaṛ, گِدَّڑ giddaṛ
- jackal in Gujarati
- શિયાળ śiyāḷ
- jackal in Sanskrit
- सृगाल sṛgāla
- jackal in Sinhala
- හිවලා hiwalā
- jackal in Assamese
- শিয়াল xial
- jackal in Pashto
- شغال šaǧâl, سورلنډی surlanḍáy
- jackal in Tagalog
- tsakal
- jackal in Arabic
- اِبْن آوَى ibn ʔāwā
- jackal in Malay
- jakal
- jackal in Indonesian
- jakal
- jackal in Persian
- شغال šoġâl
- jackal in Thai
- แจ็กคัล jɛ̀k-kal
- jackal in Vietnamese
- chó rừng
- jackal in Myanmar
- ခွေးအ hkwe:a., ခှေး
- Kashmiri
- شال śāl, شٲج śạ̄j
Examples of jackal in a sentence
- The jackals began to gather around the carcass.
- It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches.
- Dave Kearney was straight over the ball in a jackal, and Mul made a brilliant clear-out.
Synonyms of jackal
Forms of jackal
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | jackals |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | jackals |
| present participle US | jackaling |
| present participle UK | jackalling |
| past participle US | jackaled |
| past US | jackaled |
| past participle UK | jackalled |
| past UK | jackalled |
Origin of jackal
Borrowed from French chacal, chacale, checale, schakal, ciacale, from Turkish çakal, from Ottoman Turkish چقال (çakâl), from Classical Persian شغال (šaġāl), borrowed from Sanskrit शृगाल (śṛgāla, “jackal”), the alternative form of सृगाल (sṛgāla).
Words formed from jackal
- American jackal
- jackalberry
- jackal buzzard
- maanhaar-jackal
- red jackal
- Simien jackal
- son of a jackal
- werejackal
Phrases with jackal
Words that rhyme with jackal
Questions about jackal
- What does jackal mean?
- Jackal means any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
- What is jackal in Hindi?
- Jackal in Hindi is सियार (siyār). See Jackal meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is jackal?
- Jackal can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce jackal?
- Jackal is pronounced /ˈd͡ʒækəl/.
- What is the plural of jackal?
- The plural of jackal is jackals.
Words near jackal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: jackal (page history and authors); jackal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); कोल्हा (Marathi) (page history and authors); കുറുനരി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಗೋಮಾಯು (Kannada) (page history and authors); හිවලා (Sinhala) (page history and authors); سورلنډی (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-jackal.ogg.
Cite this entry: “jackal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/jackal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.