porcupine

CEFRB1

/ˈpɔː(ɹ)kjʊˌpaɪn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An animal covered with sharp stiff hairs called quills.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any of several rodents of either of the taxonomic families Hystricidae (Old World porcupines) or Erethizontidae (New World porcupines), both from the infraorder Hystricognathi, noted for their sharp spines or quills, which are raised when the animal is attacked or surprised.

Examples

  • What's the difference between a hedgehog and a porcupine?

  • I live with a porcupine.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
2
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈpɔː(ɹ)kiˌpaɪn/
  • /ˈpɔː(ɹ)kɪˌpaɪn/

Deep Dive

More examples

In context

  • In particular, porcupines, hyenas, and leopards are known in Africa to transport bones to particular places.

  • I have no evidence of grizzlies killing porcupines or vice versa. However, occasionally there is contact and sometimes a grizzly is injured or a porcupine killed, but the latter is rare.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

When a predator approaches, the small mammal covered in sharp quills called a blank raises them.

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

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English porke despyne, from Old French porc-espin, from Latin porcus (“pig”) + spinus (“spine”), hence also spine pig. Cognate with Spanish puercoespín, Italian porcospino, Portuguese porco-espinho.