chinchilla
Use Chinchilla in a sentence
ə noun
1.
a small, South American rodent, Chinchilla laniger, raised for its soft, silvery gray fur: now rare in the wild.
2.
the fur of this animal.
3.
something, as a coat or jacket, made of chinchilla fur: a floor-length chinchilla.
4.
a thick, napped, woolen fabric for coats.
Origin:
1595–1605; < Spanish, perhaps, equivalent to chinche chinch + -illa < Latin -illa diminutive suffix
1595–1605; < Spanish, perhaps, equivalent to chinche chinch + -illa < Latin -illa diminutive suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To chinchilla
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Chinchilla
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
chinchilla (tʃɪnˈtʃɪlə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a small gregarious hystricomorph rodent, Chinchilla laniger, inhabiting mountainous regions of South America: family Chinchillidae. It has a stocky body and is bred in captivity for its soft silvery grey fur |
| 2. | the highly valued fur of this animal |
| 3. | mountain chinchilla, mountain viscacha any of several long-tailed rodents of the genus Lagidium, having coarse poor quality fur |
| 4. | a breed of rabbit with soft silver-grey fur |
| 5. | a thick napped woollen cloth used for coats |
| [C17: from Spanish, perhaps from Aymara] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
chinchilla
1593, from Sp., lit. "little bug" (see chinch); probably an alteration of a word from Quechua or Aymara.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Equally unaware are the chinchilla and the tiny, mouselike marsupial nibbling seeds nearby.
Others include chinchilla, lynx, muskrats and coyotes.
Nearby Words
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