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Definition of Porcupine - 5 dictionary results
por⋅cu⋅pine
[pawr-kyuh-pahyn] 
kyəˌpaɪn
–noun
| any of several rodents covered with stiff, sharp, erectile spines or quills, as Erethizon dorsatum of North America. |
Porcupine River
–noun
| a river in NW Yukon Territory, Canada and NE Alaska, flowing N and W to the Yukon River. 448 mi. (721 km) long. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Porcupine
| por·cu·pine (pôr'kyə-pīn') n. Any of various rodents of the Old World family Hystricidae or the New World family Erethizontidae, having long, sharp, erectile quills interspersed with coarse hair. [Middle English porke despine, from Old French porc espin : Latin porcus, pig; see porko- in Indo-European roots + Latin spīna, thorn, spine.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Porcupine
Por"cu*pine\, n. [OE. porkepyn, porpentine, OF. porc-espi, F. porc-['e]pic (cf. It. porco spino, porco spinoso, Sp. puerco espino, puerco espin, fr. L. porcus swine + spina thorn, spine). The last part of the French word is perhaps a corruption from the It. or Sp.; cf. F. ['e]pi ear, a spike of grain, L. spica. See Pork, Spike a large nail, Spine.]1. (Zo["o]l.) Any Old Word rodent of the genus Hystrix, having the back covered with long, sharp, erectile spines or quills, sometimes a foot long. The common species of Europe and Asia (Hystrix cristata) is the best known. 2. (Zo["o]l.) Any species of Erethizon and related genera, native of America. They are related to the true porcupines, but have shorter spines, and are arboreal in their habits. The Canada porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus) is a well known species. Porcupine ant-eater (Zo["o]l.), the echidna. Porcupine crab (Zo["o]l.), a large spiny Japanese crab (Acantholithodes hystrix). Porcupine disease (Med.). See Ichthyosis. Porcupine fish (Zo["o]l.), any plectognath fish having the body covered with spines which become erect when the body is inflated. See Diodon, and Globefish. Porcupine grass (Bot.), a grass (Stipa spartea) with grains bearing a stout twisted awn, which, by coiling and uncoiling through changes in moisture, propels the sharp-pointed and barbellate grain into the wool and flesh of sheep. It is found from Illinois westward. See Illustration in Appendix. Porcupine wood (Bot.), the hard outer wood of the cocoa palm; -- so called because, when cut horizontally, the markings of the wood resemble the quills of a porcupine.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Porcupine
Spanish:
puerco espín,
German:
das Stachelschwein,
Japanese:
やまあらし
porcupine
c.1400, porke despyne, from O.Fr. porc-espin (c.1220), lit. "spiny pig," from L. porcus "hog" + spina "thorn, spine." The word had many forms in M.E. and early Mod.E., including portepyn, porkpen, porkenpick, porpoynt, and Shakespeare's porpentine (in "Hamlet").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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