rodent
pronunciation
How to pronounce rodent in British English:
UK [ˈrəʊdnt]
How to pronounce rodent in American English:
US [ˈroʊdnt]
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- Noun:
- relatively small gnawing animals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing
Word Origin
- rodent
- rodent: see rostrum
- rodent (n.)
- 1835 (as an adjective 1833), from Modern Latin Rodentia, the order name, from Latin rodentem (nominative rodens), present participle of rodere "to gnaw, eat away," from PIE root *red- "to scrape, scratch, gnaw" (cognates: Sanskrit radati "scrapes, gnaws," radanah "tooth;" Latin radere "to scrape;" Welsh rhathu "scrape, polish"). Uncertain connection to Old English rætt (see rat (n.)).
Example
- 1. Related : " oldest rodent cache found-filled with fossil nuts . "
- 2. To prove this , a few recent studies turned to a rodent that employs a remarkably familiar nest structure .
- 3. A large rodent that looks sort of like a rabbit , sort of like a donkey .
- 4. A study last year in the american journal of tropical medicine and hygiene suggested that early snowmelt in western states had led to drier soil in rodent burrows and fewer fleas to spread plague .
- 5. She said men may follow the path of a type of rodent which still manages to reproduce despite not having the vital genes that make up the y chromosome .