Link Centre Dictionary

porcupine

por·cu·pine

UK/ˈpɔː(ɹ)kjʊˌpaɪn/ US/ˈpɔː(ɹ)kiˌpaɪn/ uncommon dated

noun

1.

relatively large rodents with sharp erectile bristles mingled with the fur

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English porke despyne, from Old French porc-espin, from Latin porcus (“pig”) + spinus (“spine”), hence also spine pig. Cognate with Spanish puercoespín, Italian porcospino, Portuguese porco-espinho.

Phrases

  • African brush-tailed porcupine
  • African crested porcupine
  • Andean porcupine
  • Bahia porcupine
  • bicolored-spined porcupine
  • black dwarf porcupine
  • black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine
  • Brazilian porcupine

Related words

Word family

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Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.