| 释义 |
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024pi•ka (pī′kə),USA pronunciation n. - Zoology, Mammalsany of several small, brown to gray tailless mammals of the genus Ochotona, resembling rabbits with short ears and legs and inhabiting western mountains of North America and parts of eastern Europe and Asia.
- 1820–30; recorded by the German naturalist P.south, southern. Pallas (1741–1811) as the name for the animal in Evenki; compare Evenki (north, northern Baikal dialect, dialectal) pikačān a name for the tree creeper (Certhia familiaris), apparently based on Russian píkat’ to squeak, peep (compare Russian pishchúkha a name for both the tree creeper and the pika, which emits a shrill sound)
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: pika /ˈpaɪkə/ n - any burrowing lagomorph mammal of the family Ochotonidae of mountainous regions of North America and Asia, having short rounded ears, a rounded body, and rudimentary tail
Also called: cony
Etymology: 19th Century: from Tungusic piika |