Matabele
Americannoun
plural
Matabeles,plural
Matabelenoun
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Now known as: Ndebele. a member of a formerly warlike people of southern Africa, now living in Zimbabwe: driven out of the Transvaal by the Boers in 1837
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the language of this people, belonging to the Bantu group of the Niger-Congo family
Etymology
Origin of Matabele
First recorded in 1815–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He also wants to identify and analyse the antibiotics used by Matabele ants in cooperation with chemistry research groups.
From Science Daily • Jan. 2, 2024
Despite this level of Matabele aggression, Wilson anoints a garden ant of the Amazonian rainforest, Camponotus femoratus, with the “most ferocious” status.
From Washington Post • Oct. 8, 2020
Matabele ants, native to sub-Saharan Africa, lay siege to the termite colonies they eat by the hundreds, braving the potentially life-threatening bites of large soldier termites that defend them.
From National Geographic • Feb. 13, 2018
Then, in the 1940s, the trade unions formed in Bulawayo were led by shop stewards who also captained the Zimbabwean teams Matabele Highlanders and Red Army.
From The Guardian • May 28, 2015
She knew it didn’t make sense that she, a Shona child, had a Matabele mother.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.