shikari

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Urdu شکاری / Hindi शिकारी (śikārī), from Persian شکاری (šekâri, of hunting), from شکار (šekâr, hunting, game).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʃɪˈkɑːɹiː/

Noun

shikari (plural shikaris)

  1. A hunter or tracker, especially in the Indian subcontinent.
    • 1893, Rudyard Kipling, “In the Rukh”, in Many Inventions, London: Macmillan and Co., page 196:
      ‘And if thou art not a shikarri, where didst thou learn thy knowledge of the tiger-folk?’ said he. ‘No tracker could have done better.’
    • 1903, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Empty House, Norton, published 2005, page 807:
      I wonder that my very simple stratagem could deceive so old a shikari,’ said Holmes.
    • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World [], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
      "I'll stake my good name as a shikarree," said he, "that the track is a fresh one."
  2. (historical) A shooting-boat used in the Kashmir lakes.

Anagrams

Japanese

Romanization

shikari

  1. Rōmaji transcription of しかり