raccoon
pronunciation
How to pronounce raccoon in British English:
UK [rəˈku:n]
How to pronounce raccoon in American English:
US [ræˈkun]
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- Noun:
- the fur of the North American racoon
- an omnivorous nocturnal mammal native to North America and Central America
Word Origin
- raccoon (n.)
- also racoon, c. 1600, arocoun, from Algonquian (Powhatan) arahkun, from arahkunem "he scratches with the hands." Early forms included Capt. John Smith's raugroughcum. In Norwegian, vaskebjørn, literally "wash-bear."
Example
- 1. Who doesn 't like a raccoon ?
- 2. But its folksy style - with jokes about raccoon hunting - may bemuse international readers .
- 3. We wondered why low-cost carrier germanwings had an airplane that resembled a raccoon until someone told us it 's actually a bear , the official animal of berlin .
- 4. Sick or infant deer are considered a far safer match for most inebriated humans ; kicking a raccoon or squirrel already dying by the side of the road is also recommended .
- 5. To give human volunteers raccoon vision , researchers fed them a chemical similar to vitamin a , with the hope that it would turn into the night vision pigment .