gazelle

/gəˈzɛl/

/gəˈzɛl/

Other forms: gazelles

A gazelle is a graceful little antelope that's native to Africa and Asia. Gazelles are extremely fast, running at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.

Gazelles need to be speedy, since their predators include cheetahs, lions, and leopards. These elegant, long-legged animals were frequently used in ancient Arabic and Persian literature, usually as a symbol of female beauty, and gazelle comes from the Arabic ghazal, a lyric love poem typically set to music. The ancient Hebrew "Song of Songs" also includes a symbolic gazelle: "Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle."

Definitions of gazelle

1. noun

   small swift graceful antelope of Africa and Asia having lustrous eyes
   types:

   Gazella thomsoni, Thomson's gazelle

   East African gazelle; the smallest gazelle

   Gazella subgutturosa

   a kind of gazelle

   Antidorcas euchore, Antidorcas marsupialis, springbok, springbuck

   a South African gazelle noted for springing lightly into the air

   type of:

   antelope

   graceful Old World ruminant with long legs and horns directed upward and backward; includes gazelles; springboks; impalas; addax; gerenuks; blackbucks; dik-diks