Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various arboreal rodents of the tribe Sciurini and especially of the genus Sciurus, characteristically having a long flexible bushy tail.
- noun Any of various other rodents of the family Sciuridae, such as the ground squirrels and the flying squirrels.
- noun The fur of one of these rodents.
- transitive verb To hide or store.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rodent quadruped of the family Sciuridæ and genus Sciurus, originally and specifically Sciurus vulgaris of Europe.
- noun In cotton manufacturing, one of the small card-covered rollers used with the large roller of a carding-machine. Also called
urchin .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of small rodents belonging to the genus Sciurus and several allied genera of the family
Sciuridæ . Squirrels generally have a bushy tail, large erect ears, and strong hind legs. They are commonly arboreal in their habits, but many species live in burrows. - noun One of the small rollers of a carding machine which work with the large cylinder.
- noun (Zoöl.) the prairie dog.
- noun (Zoöl.) the striped gopher. See
Gopher , 2. - noun (Zoöl.) See
Flying squirrel , in the Vocabulary. - noun (Zoöl.) See
Jelerang . - noun (Bot.) a North American herb (
Dicentra Canadensis ) bearing little yellow tubers. - noun (Bot.) the blossom of the
Hepatica triloba , a low perennial herb with cup-shaped flowers varying from purplish blue to pink or even white. It is one of the earliest flowers of spring. - noun (Zoöl.) A market fish of Bermuda (
Holocentrum Ascensione ). - noun (Bot.) a pestiferous grass (
Hordeum murinum ) related to barley. In California the stiffly awned spikelets work into the wool of sheep, and into the throat, flesh, and eyes of animals, sometimes even producing death. - noun (Zoöl.) a common American hake (
Phycis tenuis ); -- called alsowhite hake . - noun (Zoöl.) any rough-legged hawk; especially, the California species
Archibuteo ferrugineus . - noun (Zoöl.) A marmoset.
- noun (Zoöl.) a flying phalanger of Australia. See
Phalanger ,Petaurist , and Flying phalanger underFlying . - noun (Zoöl.) any one of several species of East Indian and Asiatic insectivores of the genus Tupaia. They are allied to the shrews, but have a bushy tail, like that of a squirrel.
- noun (Bot.) a grass (
Hordeum jubatum ) found in salt marshes and along the Great Lakes, having a dense spike beset with long awns.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of the
rodents of the familySciuridae distinguished by their large bushy tail. - noun Scientology A person, usually a
freezoner , who applies L. Ron Hubbard's technology in aheterodox manner. - verb transitive To store in a secretive manner, to hide something for future use
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail
- noun the fur of a squirrel
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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“The name squirrel comes from the Greek skiouros, which means shadow-tailed, because the tail is big enough to shade the rest of the animal.”
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Then, Donna will take them to what she calls "squirrel camp," where they will be in the wild on their own.
Nancy Ruhling: Astoria Characters: The Wild Things' Foster Mom Nancy Ruhling 2011
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My chicken pot pie however trumps a milkbone and a squirrel is a good bit of fun to chase.
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My chicken pot pie however trumps a milkbone and a squirrel is a good bit of fun to chase.
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I am not sure of this either, for I have heard tell that the squirrel is the only animal that likes turpentine.
Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910
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It's just that the title has the word 'squirrel' in it, laughs and that tends to throw people.
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed J.D. Considine 2011
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It's just that the title has the word 'squirrel' in it, laughs and that tends to throw people.
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed J.D. Considine 2011
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It's just that the title has the word 'squirrel' in it, laughs and that tends to throw people.
The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed J.D. Considine 2011
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It is curious that the English word "squirrel" is from the G! and signifies "shady-tail."
Hiawatha; a poem, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Illustrated by John Rea Neill. 1856
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The enviornmental impact of lead bullets in squirrel guns and deer rifles, or for that matter upland bird hunting or dove shooting, has to be minimal.
Prolagus commented on the word squirrel
I told you.
this is creepy. It appeared three random words after squirrel. I'm not kidding.
October 9, 2008
vanishedone commented on the word squirrel
Hmm... the link to http://wordie.org/words/[squirrel] gives a 404, not the bracketeering word. Off to bugs, then...?
Edit: oh wait: it's a misuse of HTML entities that's doing that.
October 9, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word squirrel
Fixed :-)
October 12, 2008
sionnach commented on the word squirrel
A squirrel to some is a squirrel,
To others, a squirrel's a squirl.
Since freedom of speech is the birthright of each,
I can only this fable unfurl:
A virile young squirrel named Cyril,
In an argument over a girl,
Was lambasted from here to the Tyrol
By a churl of a squirl named Earl.
– Ogden Nash
December 24, 2008
qroqqa commented on the word squirrel
The etymology of this seems very straightforward: Greek skiourous from ski- "shadow" + ouros "tail". Yet Starostin's etymological database evidently regards the second element not as "tail" but as the zero grade of an Indo-European *(o)wer-, name of some kind of weasel-like animal, as found reduplicated in Latin viverra, and also in German Eichhörnchen "squirrel". That latter looks like a simple Eiche "oak" + Horn "horn" + diminutive, but the second part is known to be from the *wer- root with subsequent superficial assimilation to horn.
In wish there was some indication of how much of Starostin is well-agreed and how much is his own speculation.
March 8, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word squirrel
Interesting usage (about the animal) here.
June 19, 2009
ruzuzu commented on the word squirrel
The Latvian word for squirrels is vavers--but I like the thought of calling them acorns.
October 25, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word squirrel
"In cotton manufacturing, one of the small card-covered rollers used with the large roller of a carding-machine. Also called urchin."
--CD&C
January 24, 2013
fbharjo commented on the word squirrel
There is a listing in swishcheese-and-leapfogs, perhaps.... that tailed to squirrels of all types AND squirrels--squirrels--squirrels by Ruzuzu
January 24, 2013
ruzuzu commented on the word squirrel
Oh, thank goodness there's already a squirrel list. That was gonna drive me nuts. :-)
January 24, 2013
hernesheir commented on the word squirrel
I knew you'd find3 your squirrels3 list.
January 24, 2013