ground squirrel en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) Any of a number of medium-sized squirrel-like burrowing rodents of the tribe Marmotini (i.e., excluding the smaller chipmunks and the larger marmots and prairie dogs).
Many ground squirrels sit up and look like prairie dogs, but a ground squirrel can be recognized by its longer face and tall.
1987, Peter Alden, Fiona Reid, Mammals, Peterson Field Guide Color-in Books, page 21:Pocket gophers appear to be abundant in the APWRA on both sides of Altamont Pass Road, whereas ground squirrels appear to be abundant only on the north side.
2003, Lourdes Rugge, Carl G. Thelander, K. Shawn Smallwood, Bird Risk Behaviors and Fatalities at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, page 23:2003, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Integrated Pest Management for Walnuts, UCANR Publication 3270, page 23, In some areas, ground squirrels may present a potential health problem because they carry ectoparasites that may transmit diseases such as bubonic plague to humans. The adult California ground squirrel has a head and body 9 to 11 inches (23-28 cm) long and a somewhat bushy tail that is about as long as the body.
Earely antelopes are seen, but wolves, rabbits, and sundry ground squirrels abound.
1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 24:
- (countable, uncountable) Any of the other squirrel-like burrowing rodents of the subfamily Marmotinae.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ground squirrels | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
gray ground squirrel · unstriped ground squirrel · long-tailed ground squirrel · Richardson's ground squirrel · bristly ground squirrel · long-clawed ground squirrel · Barbary ground squirrel · African ground squirrel · Cape ground squirrel · round-tailed ground squirrel · red-cheeked ground squirrel · russet ground squirrel · Arctic ground squirrel · yellow ground squirrel · spotted ground squirrel · mountain ground squirrel · four-striped ground squirrel · thirteen-lined ground squirrel · Belding's ground squirrel · Columbian ground squirrel · three-striped ground squirrel · striped ground squirrel · California ground squirrel · speckled ground squirrel · tufted ground squirrel · golden-mantled ground squirrel · ring-tailed ground squirrel · mantled ground squirrel
Hyponyms
suslik (squirrel-like borrowing rodent of Marmotini or Xerini) · groundhog (squirrel-like borrowing rodent of Marmotini or Xerini) · prairie dog (squirrel-like borrowing rodent of Marmotini or Xerini) · suslik (medium-sized rodent of Marmotini) · chipmunk (squirrel-like borrowing rodent of Marmotini or Xerini) · marmot (squirrel-like borrowing rodent of Marmotini or Xerini)
Translations (10)
bg лалугер (Spermophilus) · bg суек (Spermophilus) · mk сто́болки (Spermophilus) · tr yer sincabı (Spermophilus) · nnt muck-quissah (Spermophilus) · pl suseł (Spermophilus) · hu ürge (Spermophilus) · ru су́слики (Spermophilus) · izh suslikka (Spermophilus) · fa کلاوو (Spermophilus)