CHAMOIS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chamois mean? 

• CHAMOIS (noun)
  The noun CHAMOIS has 2 senses:

1. a soft suede leather formerly from the skin of the chamois antelope but now from sheepskin

2. hoofed mammal of mountains of Eurasia having upright horns with backward-hooked tips

  Familiarity information: CHAMOIS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHAMOIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A soft suede leather formerly from the skin of the chamois antelope but now from sheepskin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

chammy; chammy leather; chamois; chamois leather; shammy; shammy leather

Hypernyms ("chamois" is a kind of...):

leather (an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "chamois"):

wash leather (piece of chamois used for cleaning and polishing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hoofed mammal of mountains of Eurasia having upright horns with backward-hooked tips

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

chamois; Rupicapra rupicapra

Hypernyms ("chamois" is a kind of...):

goat antelope (bovid related to goats but having antelope-like features: mountain goats; gorals; serows; chamois; gnu goats)

Holonyms ("chamois" is a member of...):

genus Rupicapra; Rupicapra (chamois)

 Context examples 

The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak and laid it on the table.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub—a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks and whose form and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I do not doubt that he hovers near the spot which I inhabit, and if he has indeed taken refuge in the Alps, he may be hunted like the chamois and destroyed as a beast of prey.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)