sabra
Pronunciations
sabra | (SAHB-ruh) | listen |
Definitions
n. A prickly pear, "tough and prickly on the outside, tender and sweet on the inside--a description that many say fits citizens of the Jewish state." (JPS)
Example Sentences
"I don't like that guy; he's so standoff-ish."
"Oh, don't worry about that. He's Israeli, he's a real sabra."
Languages of Origin
- Modern Hebrew
Etymology
צבר tsabar
- Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
- Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)
- North America
- Great Britain
- South Africa
- Australia / New Zealand
- View More
- Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
- The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
- The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
Who Uses This
Regions
Dictionaries
Notes
So chosen because prickly pears are thorny on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside.
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