Sjambok
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A stout whip, especially made of rhinoceros or hippopotamus hide. South-Africa
"He learnt that he was a slave, in spite of all the petty airs he might assume, a slave shackled to a yoke, to be scolded when he lagged, flogged when he rebelled with the sjambok of the modern driver, Threat of the Sack."
- 1 To whip with a sjambok; to horsewhip. transitive
Example
More examples"He learnt that he was a slave, in spite of all the petty airs he might assume, a slave shackled to a yoke, to be scolded when he lagged, flogged when he rebelled with the sjambok of the modern driver, Threat of the Sack."
Etymology
From Afrikaans sjambok, from Dutch sjambok, from Javanese cambuk, and as borrowed in Malay: modern Indonesian and Malay, ultimately from Persian چابک (čâbok). Originally spelt in the colonial Dutch transliteration tscamboek. The term was imported by VOC officials, Dutch merchants, the Maardijkers (Maluku (Moluccan) freemen and burghers), and Inlanders (Javanese and other modern Indonesian slaves and political exiles expelled to Dutch South Africa). Doublet of chabuk.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.