woodchuck

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“
Now the groundhog (also known as the woodchuck, land beaver or whistlepig) is from the genus Marmota (which also includes other varieties of marmots).

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A common burrowing rodent (Marmota monax) of northern and eastern North America, having a short-legged, heavy-set body and grizzled brownish fur. Also called groundhog; also called regionally whistle pig.
  2. Regional Note
    The woodchuck goes by several names in the United States. The most famous of these is groundhog, under which name all the legends about the animal's hibernation have accrued. In the Appalachian Mountains the woodchuck is known as a whistle pig. The word woodchuck is probably a folk etymology of a New England Algonquian word—that is, English-speaking settlers "translated” the Indian word into a compound of two words that made sense to them in light of the animal's habitat.

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Examples (50)

  • Now the groundhog (also known as the woodchuck, land beaver or whistlepig) is from the genus Marmota (which also includes other varieties of marmots). —  Balashon - Hebrew Language Detective
  • Merrilee Faubel said the woodchuck was discovered after her car would not start Monday and tow truck driver Rosie Grabow raised the hood of the Honda, the Omaha (Neb.) —  Latest News - UPI.com
  • Wayne Rapp, service manager at O'Daniel Honda, said the damage caused by the woodchuck was the worst animal-related car damage he had seen that did not involve a deer. —  Latest News - UPI.com
  • Mindy Monday found a couple that disagreed with the Pennsylvania woodchuck, and joined the party. —  On Pit Row
  • How much wood could a wood chuck if the woodchuck was acey bongos, the wood was his sperm, and the chucking was ejeculating on Lauren's face? —  Destructoid
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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. By folk etymology, probably of New England Algonquian origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also woodshock, applied to a different quadruped; a corruption, simulating English wood, of wejack, weejack, representing an American Indian name, of which the Cree form is rendered otchock by Sir John Richardson.
  2. Prob. from wood + chuck, variant of chack.
 

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/ˈwədtʃək/
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