cawquaw en · NOUN
Etymology
From Cree kâkwa / ᑳᑲᐧ (kaakay, “porcupine”).
Meanings
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(dated, no-plural, possibly, rare) A Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum).
The Cawquaw or Urson of North America also inhabits trees. It has not, however, a prehensile tail, that member being merely used as a weapon of offence, the short, sharp quills witb which it is armed sticking in the wounds […]
1872, Samuel Orchart Beeton, Beeton's Brave tales, bold ballads, and travels and perils, page 540: