afghan

Pluralafghans

1. 1
   adjective · Afghan

   Belonging to, coming from, or relating to Afghanistan.

   The city has helped resettle hundreds of Afghan refugees over the past year.

   The museum's new gallery displays Afghan jewelry, pottery and manuscripts.

2. 2
   noun · Afghancountable

   A person born or living in Afghanistan, or one of Afghan citizenship, nationality or descent.

   As an Afghan living abroad, he follows the news from Kabul every night.

   The new clinic hired two Afghans who had trained as nurses in Kabul.

   Note

   The people's name reached English from Persian afġān; behind it stands a Bactrian form, abagano, first recorded in the fourth century CE and most likely built on a word meaning "distant". Like Pakistani or Iranian, it is a nationality noun and takes a capital: an Afghan, two Afghans, Afghan refugees.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A blanket or throw, usually one that has been crocheted or knitted.

   My aunt crocheted a granny-square afghan for the new baby.

   She sells handmade afghans at the county craft fair every fall.

   Similarblanket, throw

4. 4
   noun · Afghancountable

   A dog of the Afghan hound breed.

   An Afghan took best in show at this year's kennel club competition.

   The breeder keeps three Afghans, and grooming their long silky coats takes hours each week.

5. 5
   proper noun · Afghan

   Pashto, the language spoken mainly by Pashtun people in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.

   Before heading to Kandahar, the young officer spent a year learning Afghan.

   The trader spoke Afghan with the camel drivers and Persian with the officials in town.

6. 6
   noun · Afghancountable

   A rug of the kind made in Afghanistan, known in full as an Afghan rug.

   The dealer unrolled a hand-knotted Afghan so we could see its deep red pattern.

   They laid an antique Afghan under the dining table to protect the wooden floor.

   Note

   The rug and the crocheted blanket share a room as well as a spelling, and in print the capital tells them apart: a hand-knotted Afghan lies on the floor, a crocheted afghan is folded over the sofa. Like the hound and the coat, the rug keeps the capital of its full name when the second word is dropped.

7. 7
   adjective · Afghan

   Belonging to, coming from, or relating to the Pashtun ethnic community.

   Elders from the Afghan tribes of northwestern Pakistan met to settle a dispute over grazing land.

   The poet, born in Peshawar, wrote in Pashto about Afghan honor and hospitality.

   SimilarPashtun

8. 8
   noun · Afghanhistoricalcountable

   A person belonging to the Pashtun ethnic group.

   The officer hired an Afghan from the hills above Peshawar as his guide and interpreter.

   Many of the frontier regiment's soldiers were Afghans from the tribes around the Khyber Pass.

   SimilarPashtun, Pathan

   Note

   A historical use, from writing in which Afghan named a people rather than a nationality. In older texts it means a Pashtun wherever they lived, so it can cover people who were never citizens of Afghanistan. In present-day English the ethnic group is called Pashtun, and Afghan is kept for someone from Afghanistan.

9. 9
   noun · Afghancountable

   A coat in the style associated with Afghanistan, known in full as an Afghan coat.

   She found a shaggy sheepskin Afghan in a vintage store, its embroidery still bright.

   My father still has the Afghan he wore to music festivals in the seventies.

10. 10
    nounAustraliaNew Zealandcountable

    An iced chocolate cookie, sometimes made with cornflakes and topped with a walnut.

    The café down the road sells a proper afghan, crunchy with cornflakes and a walnut half pressed into the icing.

    Nan always kept a tin of afghans in the pantry for visitors.

    Note

    A baking word from Australia and New Zealand, where this treat is a biscuit; an American would call it a cookie. Outside those two countries most readers will picture the crocheted blanket instead, so in writing for an international audience the word needs a kitchen, a café or a recipe around it to be understood.

11. 11
    proper noun · AfghanslangUKabbreviationclipping

    Clipping of Afghanistan.

    Mum hardly slept while Dad was out in Afghan.

    He did two tours in Afghan before leaving the Royal Marines.

    Note

    Soldiers' shorthand from British service: the country's name cut to its first two syllables and used like any other place name, with no article, in Afghan, out in Afghan, a tour in Afghan. It belongs to talk among troops; in formal writing, and for readers outside the UK, the full name Afghanistan is the one to use.

Showing meanings only. Show all 11