| Library / English Dictionary |
PORCUPINE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Relatively large rodents with sharp erectile bristles mingled with the fur
Synonyms:
hedgehog; porcupine
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("porcupine" is a kind of...):
gnawer; rodent (relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing)
Meronyms (parts of "porcupine"):
quill (a stiff hollow protective spine on a porcupine or hedgehog)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "porcupine"):
Old World porcupine (terrestrial porcupine)
New World porcupine (arboreal porcupine)
Context examples:
The porcupine had at last decided that its enemy had gone away.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He knew the breed, though he had never met it so far north before; and never in his long life had porcupine served him for a meal.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The porcupine rolled itself into a ball, radiating long, sharp needles in all directions that defied attack.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He had waited too often and futilely in the past for porcupines to unroll, to waste any more time.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The porcupine met his approach with a furious squealing and a clashing of its long teeth.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He walked as delicately as though all the snow were carpeted with porcupine quills, erect and ready to pierce the soft pads of his feet.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
But the porcupine, squealing and grunting, with disrupted anatomy trying feebly to roll up into its ball-protection, flicked out its tail again, and again the big cat squalled with hurt and astonishment.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The porcupine might unroll.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He studied it intently for a moment, then took a careful grip with his teeth and started off down the stream, partly carrying, partly dragging the porcupine, with head turned to the side so as to avoid stepping on the prickly mass.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Had the porcupine been entirely unrolled, or had it not discovered its enemy a fraction of a second before the blow was struck, the paw would have escaped unscathed; but a side-flick of the tail sank sharp quills into it as it was withdrawn.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
