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Webster 1913 Edition
Lemming
Lem′ming
(lĕm′mĭng)
, Noun.
[Nor.
lemming
, lemende
; cf. Sw. lemel
, Lapp. lummik
.] (Zool.)
Any one of several species of small arctic rodents of the genera
Myodes
and Cuniculus
, resembling the meadow mice in form. They are found in both hemispheres. ☞ The common Northern European lemming (
Myodes lemmus
) is remarkable for making occasional devastating migrations in enormous numbers from the mountains into the lowlands. 