Definitions

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

  • noun Any of several bushy-tailed rodents of the genus Neotoma of western North America, especially Neotoma cinerea, which hoard food and other objects in their nests.
  • noun Informal A person who habitually saves items, even those unlikely to be useful.

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

  • noun Any of several species of rodent in the genus Neotoma, but most commonly the bushy-tailed woodrat (Neotoma cinerea).
  • noun One who tends to acquire various objects; one who collects, accumulates or has trouble throwing things away.

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

  • noun any of several bushy-tailed rodents of the genus Neotoma of western North America; hoards food and other objects
  • noun someone who collects things that have been discarded by others
  • noun a collector of miscellaneous useless objects
  • noun any of several bushy-tailed rodents of the genus Neotoma of western North America; hoards food and other objects

Etymologies

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Examples

  • I see a smooth-tailed rat, but what I'm used to calling a packrat has a bushy tail, so I got out my mammal book.

    More Pack Rats! 2006

  • So are your rats just wannabe packrats inhabiting old nests, or are you just using "packrat" as a sort of vernacular?

    More Pack Rats! 2006

  • My mom calls her a "packrat" which means she never throws anything away.

    unclebob Diary Entry unclebob 2005

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

  • I would take them for walks, take them to lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and would help clean up their condo and, later, their room at an assisted living home, something that had to be done frequently as my grandma's condition increasingly turned her into a packrat.

    Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: Hereafter -- Death, American Style Jonathan Kim 2010

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