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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A squirrellike rodent (Chinchilla laniger) native to the mountains of South America and widely raised in captivity for its soft, pale gray fur.
  2. n. The fur of this animal.
  3. n. A thick twilled cloth of wool and cotton used for overcoats.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A small South American rodent quadruped of the genus Chinchilla, especially C. lanigera; a pika-squirrel. The common chinchilla is 9 or 10 inches long, with large rounded ears, long hind legs, 5 toes on the fore feet, a long bushy tail, and beautifully fine pearly-gray pelage, in great repute in furriery.
  2. n. Some related animal of the family Chinchillidæ: as, Cuvier's chinchilla (Lagidium cuvieri).
  3. n. The typical genus of the family Chinchillidæ: synonymous with Eriomys.
  4. n. The fur of these animals, which is used for tippets, muffs, linings to cloaks, pelisses, etc.
  5. n. A thick heavy cloth for women's winter cloaks, with a long napped surface rolled into little tufts, in imitation of chinchilla fur.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A small, nocturnal rodent of the genus Chinchilla, native to the Andes, prized for its very soft fur and also often kept as a pet.
  2. n. The fur of a chinchilla used for clothing.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A small rodent (Chinchilla lanigera), of the size of a large squirrel, remarkable for its fine fur, which is very soft and of a pearly gray color. It is a native of Peru and Chili.
  2. n. The fur of the chinchilla.
  3. n. A heavy, long-napped, tufted woolen cloth.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a thick twilled fabric of wool and cotton
  2. n. the expensive silvery grey fur of the chinchilla
  3. n. small rodent with soft pearly grey fur; native to the Andes but bred in captivity for fur

Etymologies

  1. Spanish, probably of Aymara origin.

Examples

  • “The word chinchilla would have occurred irresistibly to this observer from behind; he might also, if he were the father of a family, have had a fleeting vision of many autographed stubs in a check book.”

    The Haunted Bookshop

  • “(Mariette’s last name has been turned invisible to protect the identity of the chinchilla that lives with her, as that chinchilla is a secret agent in the Dominican Republic Secret Engagement Xyloforce.) “You do know Mariette!””

    CYRIL MACK AND THE VERY COLD CUP OF TEA • by Kevin Shamel

  • “First thing I knew, I was dreaming you and I were being married, and you had brass buttons all over you, and I had the cloak all right, but it was a wedding-dress, and the chinchilla was a wormy sort of orange blossoms, and -- and I waked when the handle of the door turned and the”

    In the Bishop's Carriage

  • “First thing I knew, I was dreaming you and I were being married, and you had brass buttons all over you, and I had the cloak all right, but it was a wedding-dress, and the chinchilla was a wormy sort of orange blossoms, and -- and I waked when the handle of the door turned and the Bishop got in.”

    In The Bishop's Carriage.

  • “The chinchilla, which is the typical form of the third family, is known to all, especially ladies, from its delicate soft fur.”

    Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon

  • “The chinchilla is a much more beautiful creature than the viscacha, and is a better-known animal, its soft and beautifully-marbled fur being an article of fashionable wear in the cities of Europe.”

    The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire

  • “Its unusual blonde to near white colouring is the result of a recessive gene, known as chinchilla or colour inhibitor.”

    News24

  • “The chinchilla was a showstopper — and “a massive mistake,” Lucas writes.”

    Druglord ‘gangster’ fashion victim «

  • “There are pygmy goats, minks, chinchilla, parrots, squirrels, all tended by Colleen and an army of volunteers.”

    The Washington Post: Can a Howard woman keep a bunch of monkeys in her house?

  • “Adorable animals being adorable interlude: A chinchilla hangs out in a bowl full of dust.”

    The Washington Post: Wonkbook: Filibuster reform dead

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Lists

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‘chinchilla’ has been looked up 1333 times, added to 27 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 20.