Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The ground squirrel.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rodent quadruped of the genus Spermophilus, as a ground-squirrel or suslik, of which there are numerous species in Europe, Asia, and North America. See cuts under
suslik and Spermophilus. - noun A fringilline bird of the genus Spermophila; a little seed-eater, of which there are numerous Central and South American species. See cut under
grassquit .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any ground squirrel of the genus Spermophilus; a gopher. See
Illust. undergopher .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
terrestrial burrowing rodent ;ground squirrel
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of various terrestrial burrowing rodents of Old and New Worlds; often destroy crops
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the Middle West, especially in Indiana, the little spermophile, sometimes called the ground-squirrel, is common and not afraid to venture into the outskirts of a village.
On the Trail An Outdoor Book for Girls Lina Beard 1888
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But for the poor spermophile nothing I could do in the way of revival was of any avail.
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth John Muir 1876
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Every boy and girl loves the little fairy, airy striped chipmunk, half squirrel, half spermophile.
The Story of My Boyhood and Youth John Muir 1876
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Strange that no squirrel or spermophile I yet have found ever seemed to have anything like enough of Scotch religion to enjoy this grand old tune.
Travels in Alaska John Muir 1876
epeolatrist commented on the word spermophile
get your minds out of the gutter, perverts
:)
December 8, 2008