Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as garapata.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A south American tick of the genus Amblyomma. There are several species, very troublesome to man and beast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A South American tick of the genus Amblyamma.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Portuguese carrapato.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word carapato.

Examples

  • Mr. Westwood says, “The tampan is a large species of mite, closely allied to the poisonous bug (as it is called) of Persia, ‘Argos reflexus’, respecting which such marvelous accounts have been recorded, and which the statement respecting the carapato or tampan would partially confirm.”

    Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 2004

  • A tropical variety, carapato, buries the whole head in the flesh of its host before it is perceived, and if turpentine does not loosen its hold, the head must be dug out with a clean needle or knife blade.

    The Home Medical Library, Volume I (of VI) Kenelm Winslow

  • Indians, and among the negroes of the South, -- the deer sometimes becoming the Rabbit in the South, and the _carapato_, or cow-tick, sometimes taking the place of the Tortoise on the Amazonas -- has a curious counterpart in the Hottentot Fables. [i_15] One day, to quote from

    Nights With Uncle Remus Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation Joel Chandler Harris 1878

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • In the shorthand of railroad telegraphers carapato meant "Private baggage car(s) of the Theatrical Company ______". --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.

    Otherwise, the term refers to a South American tick.

    January 21, 2013