hedgehog

CEFRB1

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small animal covered with short, sharp spines.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any of several spiny mammals, such as the porcupine, that are similar to the hedgehog.

Examples

  • The hedgehog on Gotland is a local symbol.

  • I live with a hedgehog.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Ellipsis of Czech hedgehog (“an antitank obstacle constructed from three steel rails”).

  2. A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked, native to Afro-Eurasia.

  3. A form of dredging machine.

More examples

In context

  • 2005, Paul Mitchell, The Favourite, Frank Moorhouse, The Best Australian Stories 2005, page 145, There are hedgehogs with sultanas as well as breadcrumbs, carrot cakes and fruitcakes and banana walnut loaves.

  • Among the Romans the genital organ of the hedgehog and the wolf were among the ingredients used in aphrodisiac concoctions.

  • [L]ike Hedg-hogs vvhich / Lye tumbling in my bare-foote vvay, and mount / Their pricks at my foot-fall: ſometime am I / All vvound vvith Adders, vvho vvith clouen tongues / Doe hiſſe me into madneſſe: […]

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The spiny blank rolled into a ball when it felt danger.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and displaced earlier Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”). In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Compare typologically Korean 고슴도치 (goseumdochi) (<<+ Middle Korean 돝 (twoth, “pig, swine”)).