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muskrat
5 dictionary results for: Muskrat
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
musk·rat       [muhsk-rat] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural -rats, (especially collectively) -rat.
1.a large, aquatic, North American rodent, Ondatra zibethica, having a musky odor.
2.its thick, light-brown fur, used for coats, for hats, as a trimming, etc.
[Origin: 1680–90, Americanism; alter., by folk etym., of musquash]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
musk·rat       (mŭs'krāt')  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. muskrat or musk·rats
  1. A large aquatic rodent (Ondatra zibethica) of North America, related to the lemming and the vole and having a dense brown coat and musk glands under a broad flat tail. Also called musquash, water rat.
  2. The fur of this rodent.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
muskrat 
1607, alteration (by association with musk and rat) of Algonquian (probably Powhatan) muscascus, lit. "it is red," so called for its colorings. From cognate Abnaki muskwessu comes variant form musquash (1624).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
muskrat

noun
1. the brown fur of a muskrat 
2. beaver-like aquatic rodent of North America with dark glossy brown fur 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muskrat

Musk"rat`\, n. 1. (Zo["o]l.) A North American aquatic fur-bearing rodent (Fiber zibethicus). It resembles a rat in color and having a long scaly tail, but the tail is compressed, the bind feet are webbed, and the ears are concealed in the fur. It has scent glands which secrete a substance having a strong odor of musk. Called also musquash, musk beaver, and ondatra.

2. (Zo["o]l.) The musk shrew.

3. (Zo["o]l.) The desman.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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