groundhogn.
1. = aardvark n.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Tubulidertata or aardvark > [noun]
earth hog1731
aardvark1785
earth-pig1785
ant bear1796
orycterope1827
groundhog1840
1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 125 Only one species is known of this genus..which the Dutch colonists style the Ground Hog.
2. The American marmot (Arctomys).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Sciuridae (squirrel) > genus Marmota > marmota monax (woodchuck)
moonack1666
woodchuck1670
Maryland marmot1771
groundhog1784
American marmot1797
1784 J. Filson Discov. Kentucke 28 Nor are the animals common to other parts wanting, such as foxes,..ground~hogs, pole-cats, and oppossums.
1789 Maryland Jrnl. 13 Nov. (advt.) A Monack, or Ground-Hog, presented [to Peale's Museum] by Mr. Johnston.
1807 P. Gass Jrnls. ii. 25 Two of our hunters went out and killed an animal called a prarow, about the size of a ground hog.
1843 F. Marryat Narr. Trav. M. Violet II. xi. 226 We had not met with one [buffalo], nor even with a ground-hog.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Woodchuck, the ground hog, a rodent mammal of the marmot tribe.
1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 122 The marmots proper, wood chucks, or ground-hogs are the largest and heaviest animals of the family [Sciuridæ].
3. A slang designation for various workmen whose occupation keeps them on the ground. Also: spec. a caisson worker. U.S.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > other manual or industrial workers > [noun] > others
bell-hanger1540
powder monkey1670
articulator1798
universalist1801
sander1854
gummer?1881
shaver1885
wire-cutter1888
knacker1890
radiologist1905
groundhog1926
dogman1948
1926 Amer. Speech 1 651/2 Ground hogs, men who work in compressed air at caisson work.
1931 Amer. Speech 7 48 ‘Tie men’ who camp far out from the main camps are called ‘Ground Hogs’ or ‘Pole Cats’.
1931 G. Irwin Amer. Tramp & Underworld Slang 92 Ground hog, a rail~road brakeman.
1934 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Ground hog, a man who works under air pressure in caisson sinking or shield tunnelling. Called also sand hog.
1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. xi. 713 A brakeman is a..ground-hog.
1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. xi. 718 A lineman's helper..who never leaves the ground is a..groundhog.
1960 H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang 232/2 Ground-hog, 1. a pilot who does not like to fly... 2. A railroad brakeman.
Compounds
groundhog case n. U.S. a desperate or urgent affair.
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1885 C. A. Siringo Texas Cow Boy 125 Dangerous to cross. But the wagons being over made it a ground hog case.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous x. 234 ‘Ground-hog case,’ said the Galway man. ‘Badly lighted port, Danny.’
1927 Amer. Speech 2 356/1 [W. Virginia dial.] Ground hog case, something that has to be settled immediately.
Groundhog Day n. North American (see quots. groundhog n., groundhog n.).
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1871 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 369 Candlemas is known as Ground-hog Day, for on that day the ground-hog comes annually out of his hole, after a long winter nap, to look for his shadow. If he perceives it, he retires again to his burrow, which he does not leave for six weeks—weeks necessarily of stormy weather. But if he does not see his shadow, for lack of sunshine, he stays out of his hole till he can, and the weather is sure to become mild and pleasant.
1948 A. L. Rand Mammals E. Rockies 128 Groundhog day is February 2. Current belief has it that if on this day the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be 6 weeks more of winter; if it does not see its shadow, winter will be soon gone.
1965 Whig-Standard (Kingston, Ont.) 2 Feb. 11/1 Today is groundhog day.
Draft additions September 2018
Groundhog Day n. a situation in which events seem to be recurring, esp. in an oppressively predictable way, likened to the single day experienced repeatedly by the protagonist in the film Groundhog Day. Hence: the feeling that one's present circumstances are familiar, unvarying, or monotonous; a day on which one has such a feeling.Originally and often in similative use. [After Groundhog Day (1993), the name of a U.S. comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and set on 2 February (compare quot. groundhog n.), in which a misanthropic television weatherman (played by Bill Murray) is mysteriously forced to live this day of his life repeatedly until he learns compassion and kindness.]
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1994 Observer 20 Nov. (Sports section) 21/5 If, like Groundhog Day, it could be repeated every time, he might have even less hair left, but he would be a happy man.
1998 Independent 18 Mar. ii. 3/4 The familial treadmill of breakfast, school-runs, housework and bedtime. Why watch someone else doing it when in only a few hours the siren will go for your own Groundhog Day?
1999 New Yorker 20 Sept. 121/3 These ‘Groundhog Day’ games of endless replay are by now a familiar syndrome, a kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder afflicting the whole culture.
2017 Garden City (Kansas) Telegram 1 Apr. d3/3 While dropping the opener was tough enough, going through something that felt like Groundhog Day was even more difficult.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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