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Webster 1913 Edition

Woodchuck

Wood′chuckˊ

,
Noun.
1.
(Zool.)
A common large North American marmot (
Arctomys monax
). It is usually reddish brown, more or less grizzled with gray. It makes extensive burrows, and is often injurious to growing crops. Called also
ground hog
.
2.
(Zool.)
The yaffle, or green woodpecker.
[Prov. Eng.]

Definition 2024

woodchuck

woodchuck

English

Noun

woodchuck ‎(plural woodchucks)

  1. A rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots, Marmota monax.
    How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — popular tongue-twister.

Synonyms

Translations

Etymology

Borrowing from Cree ocêk, otchek ‎(“fisher”), borrowing from Ojibwe ojiig ‎(“fisher, marten”), or a similar term in a related Algonquian language, subsequently reapplied to the groundhog.

An earlier form of this word, "woodshock", still sometimes designated the marten.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwʊd.tʃʌk/

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