muskrat

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See also: musk-rat

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Perhaps so called for its musky odour and because it resembles a rat, or perhaps called by an Algonquian name like the Abenaki moskwas, with the spelling altered under the influence of the English words musk and rat.

Pronunciation

Noun

muskrat (plural muskrats)

  1. A large semiaquatic rodent of species Ondatra zibethicus.
    • 1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, Chapter IX. "The Sea and the Desert", page 187.
      He also said that minks, muskrats, foxes, coons, and wild mice were found there, but no squirrels.
  2. Any of several shrews in the family Soricidae, especially an Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus).
  3. (obsolete) A bandicoot rat.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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References

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