| 释义 |
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024por•cu•pine /ˈpɔrkyəˌpaɪn/USA pronunciation n. [countable]- Mammalsan animal, a large rodent having stiff, sharp spines or quills.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024por•cu•pine (pôr′kyə pīn′),USA pronunciation n. - Mammalsany of several rodents covered with stiff, sharp, erectile spines or quills, as Erethizon dorsatum of North America.
- Middle French porc d'espine thorny pig. See pork, spine
- 1375–1425; late Middle English porcupyne, variant of porcapyne; replacing porke despyne
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: porcupine /ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn/ n - any of various large hystricomorph rodents of the families Hystricidae, of Africa, Indonesia, S Europe, and S Asia, and Erethizontidae, of the New World. All species have a body covering of protective spines or quills
Etymology: 14th Century porc despyne pig with spines, from Old French porc espin; see pork, spineˈporcuˌpinish adj ˈporcuˌpiny adj |