Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An omnivorous mammal (Procyon lotor) native to the Americas and introduced elsewhere, having grayish-brown fur, black masklike facial markings, and a black-ringed bushy tail.
  • noun The fur of this mammal.
  • noun Any of various similar or related animals.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See racoon.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) A North American nocturnal carnivore (Procyon lotor) allied to the bears, but much smaller, and having a long, full tail, banded with black and gray. Its body is gray, varied with black and white. Called also coon, and mapach.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the tanate.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the cacomixle.

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

  • noun A nocturnal omnivore originally living in North America, typically with a mixture of gray, brown, and black fur, a mask-like marking around the eyes and a striped tail; Procyon lotor.
  • noun Any mammal of the genus Procyon.
  • noun Any mammal of the subfamily Procyoninae, a procyonine.
  • noun Any mammal of the family Procyonidae, a procyonid.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an omnivorous nocturnal mammal native to North America and Central America
  • noun the fur of the North American racoon

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Of Virginia Algonquian origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From arocoun (1608), from Powhatan ärähkun, from ärähkuněm ‘he scratches with his hands’.

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Examples

  • "And if it has young back in there, a mother raccoon is going to just tear another hole into the structure to get back in."

    D.C. Council tentatively approves bill on animal- and pest-control firms Tim Craig 2010

  • Something is trying to chew through the roof — probably a squirrel or raccoon from the sound of its feet.

    Summer’s End | Heretical Ideas Magazine 2008

  • Later, in a bit of synchronicity, my father told me on the phone about how friends of his had saved a baby raccoon from a tree that was being cut down.

    Archive for » 2008 » June : Sustainablog 2008

  • Later, in a bit of synchronicity, my father told me on the phone about how friends of his had saved a baby raccoon from a tree that was being cut down.

    Animals, Humans, and the Nature (or Nurture) of Fear 2008

  • Don't worry about the squirrel eatin ', raccoon hat wearin', horse marryin 'voters in WV and KY ..... there primary won't mean zilch this week.

    Clinton holds big leads in West Virginia and Kentucky 2008

  • DALLAS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for advertising "faux fur" on coats trimmed in Asian raccoon dog, authorities said.

    Latest News - UPI.com 2010

  • DALLAS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for advertising "faux fur" on coats trimmed in Asian raccoon dog, authorities said.

    Latest News - UPI.com 2010

  • DALLAS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for advertising "faux fur" on coats trimmed in Asian raccoon dog, authorities said.

    Latest News - UPI.com 2010

  • DALLAS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for advertising "faux fur" on coats trimmed in Asian raccoon dog, authorities said.

    Latest News - UPI.com 2010

  • DALLAS, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Neiman Marcus has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine for advertising "faux fur" on coats trimmed in Asian raccoon dog, authorities said.

    Latest News - UPI.com 2010

Comments

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  • The definition of this word is inaccurate. Raccoons are omnivorous.

    August 27, 2012

  • 2 of the above 4 definitions specify omnivorous. Wordnik does not create the definitions, it aggregates them from online dictionaries and databases.

    August 27, 2012