woodchuck


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Related to woodchuck: Tongue twisters

wood·chuck

 (wo͝od′chŭk′)
n.
A large burrowing rodent (Marmota monax) of northern and eastern North America, having a short-legged, heavyset body and grizzled brownish fur. Also called groundhog; also called regionally whistle pig.
[By folk etymology, probably of New England Algonquian origin.]
Word History: The woodchuck goes by several names in the United States. One is groundhog, the name under which legends about the animal's emergence from the ground on Groundhog Day have accrued. The word groundhog probably makes reference to the animal's excellent burrowing abilities. In the Appalachian Mountains, the woodchuck is known as a whistle pig, in reference to the shrill whistle it makes when disturbed. The word woodchuck is probably a folk etymology of a word in an Algonquian language of New England akin to the Narragansett word for the animal, ockqutchaun. English-speaking settlers in North America probably heard the Algonquian term and reinterpreted the first part of it as wood, which seemed to make sense in the name of an animal that often lives on the edges of woodland and in open wooded areas.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

woodchuck

(ˈwʊdˌtʃʌk)
n
(Animals) a North American marmot, Marmota monax, having coarse reddish-brown fur. Also called: groundhog
[C17: by folk etymology from Cree otcheck fisher, marten]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wood•chuck

(ˈwʊdˌtʃʌk)

n.
a stocky North American burrowing rodent, Marmota monax, that hibernates in the winter. Also called groundhog.
[1665–75, Amer.; presumably a reshaping by folk etym. of a word in a Southern New England Algonquian language]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.woodchuck - reddish brown North American marmotwoodchuck - reddish brown North American marmot
groundhog, Marmota monax
marmot - stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

woodchuck

[ˈwʊdtʃʌk] N → marmota f de América GROUNDHOG DAY
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

woodchuck

[ˈwʊdˌtʃʌk] n → marmotta americana
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
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References in classic literature ?
As if one were to wear any sort of coat which the tailor might cut out for him, or, gradually leaving off palm-leaf hat or cap of woodchuck skin, complain of hard times because he could not afford to buy him a crown!
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Fox and woodchuck, hawk and snipe and bittern, when nearly seen, have no more root in the deep world than man, and are just such superficial tenants of the globe.
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"There aren't any mice or woodchucks in that hole, so don't be foolish."
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Should he wish to land, it is merely because he has seen a large flight of landrails or plovers, of wild ducks, teal, widgeon, or woodchucks, which fall an easy pray to net or gun.
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The farmers and their works are scarcely more obvious than woodchucks and their burrows.
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Guests can bid on rare experiences at Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn, such as participating in a training session with the resident bobcat or woodchuck, before taking a behind-the-scenes tour.
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I later shot prone at clay targets--about the size of the woodchuck's vital zone--at 50 and 100 yards, and it worked nicely.
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Woodchuck, distinguished Bellknap Beaver, and the deer, the wolves, the cardinals, and more!
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principal Dan Oberpriller, is working on the project with Ben VandenWymelenberg, the CEO ofMinneapolis-based accessories maker Woodchuck USA, and George Sutton, owner of Sutton + Associates consultancy, Finance & Commerce reported previously.<br />The project has been revised since first being reviewed by the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association in December.
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Most of the stories take a seemingly innocuous situation -- the process of renaming a street, the extermination of a woodchuck in the backyard -- and turn it into a complex psychological conundrum.
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Peanutbutter, running for governor of California against a seasoned, policy-smart, and dignified woodchuck.
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Bemoaning the disappearance of the family farm, a modern distaste for possum, federal penalties for shooting hawks, and the general demise of the woodchuck makes about as much sense as whining that we don't do things the way the Edwardians did.
The disappearance of the classic small-game rifle: today, small game, small-game rifles, and small-game hunters are threatened species

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