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pika

 - 2 dictionary results

pi⋅ka

  [pahy-kuh]
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–noun
any of several small, brown to gray tailless mammals of the genus Ochotona, resembling rabbits with short ears and legs and inhabiting western mountains of North America and parts of eastern Europe and Asia.
Origin:
1820–30; recorded by the German naturalist P.S. Pallas (1741–1811) as the name for the animal in Evenki; cf. Evenki (N Baikal dial.) pikačān a name for the tree creeper (Certhia familiaris), appar. based on Russ píkatʾ to squeak, peep (cf. Russ pishchúkha a name for both the tree creeper and the pika, which emits a shrill sound)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pi·ka   (pī'kə, pē-)   
n.  Any of several small, tailless, furry mammals of the genus Ochotona of the mountains of North America and Eurasia, resembling guinea pigs but belonging to the order of lagomorphs that includes the hares and rabbits. Also called coney1, rock rabbit.

[Evenki piika, perhaps from Russian pikat', to squeak.]
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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