[a. F. caracal, a. Turkish qarah-qulaq, f. qarah black + qulak ear.] A feline animal (Felis caracal Linn.) found in northern Africa and south-western Asia; it belongs to the sub-genus of the lynxes, and is generally supposed to be the ‘lynx’ of the ancients.
1760. Phil. Trans. (1809), XI. 474, note. The caracal is an animal of great strength and fierceness.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1862), I. IV. i. 381. The siagush, or, as Mr. Buffon names it, the caracal.
1834. Jardine, Felinæ, 251. The caracal has always been considered to be the lynx mentioned by the ancients as possessing such wonderful power of sight.
1839. Penny Cycl., XIV. 218/2. The Caracals hunt in packs like the wild dogs.
