Chamois
chamois
(pronunciation: “sha-ma-wa”, in British English; and “sha-mi”, in American English) {plural: chamois (also chamoix) , pronunciation: “sha-ma-waz”}
a kind of animal – mammal – antelope – related to goats and sheep; short horns, about 5 inches in length growing upwards with a hook-like backward curl; white face with black stripes; on average, grows to 2-2½ feet tall land weighs about 50 Kg.; feeds on (eats) tough grass and shoots; lives for about 20 years; found in the high mountains of southern Europe to Caucasus – mostly in the Alps mountains, and south-west Asia
male ~~ buck
female ~~ doe
baby ~~ kid
group ~~ herd
voice (call) ~~ trumpet (bucks)
Special Features:
The Chamois is known as “the king of the mountain peaks”.
Chamois are timid, agile (= very active) and sure-footed on the uneven rocky areas; and are hunted for their tasty meat and very valuable soft leather, and also for sport.
Chamois’s skin is made into very smooth leather which is used in cleaning and polishing because it does not produce streaking (= not leaving pieces of fibre on the surface), and also soft suede leather made into suede shoes is also from the skin of chamois.
- chamois drying cloth
{The treated skin is called: chamois or chammy or shammy – plural chamois or chammies or shammies}
[But most of the leather sold these days as chamois is ordinary sheep skin!]
- chamois sports glove
The tuft of hair from the back of chamois neck is traditionally worn on the people’s hats throughout the Alpine countries – Austria, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland.
There are several brands of sports creams by the name chamois!
- chamois sports cream
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Mr. Kumar, an English language teacher, having taught in many countries around the world including Ethiopia and Oman shares this English Language Reference website using material that he has written and compiled during the past 20 years.
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