zebra

1. (sports, slang) A referee.slang

2. (medicine, slang) An unlikely diagnosis, especially for symptoms probably caused by a common ailment.Examples: ""It's a zebra! George. OK, I should explain. A zebra is..." "Medical slang for coming to an exotic diagnosis when a more simple explanation is more likely." "That's right. I was convinced that George, given his age and symptoms, had some kind of cardiac issue. It fit, it made sense. Because I was looking for the obvious when I should have been looking for the zebra! George is just having an allergic reaction to a combination of chemicals from all the stains and paints he's been using in the garage.""slang

3. (medicine, by extension) Someone who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility spectrum disorderExamples: "EDS charities around the world use a zebra logo to promote the idea that sometimes it really is that ‘rare’ condition."; "“I was told in medical school, ‘when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras,’” she says. Many trainee doctors receive the same advice – when a patient presents with symptoms, “look for the common thing.” That’s why EDS patients commonly refer to themselves as zebras – and also use the fabulous collective noun “dazzle.” The name represents rarity and evokes the stripy stretch marks that are a common feature on EDS skin."broadly

4. (derogatory, slang, ethnic slur) A biracial person, specifically one born to a Sub-Saharan African person and a white person.Examples: "“People change countries for all kinds of reasons,” Ross tells me. “But at least one of them was that she had this light-skinned, mixed-race child who had already been called a zebra at school.”"derogatoryethnicslangslur

5. (informal) A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).informal