wood rat

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

• n. See pack rat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• n. any American rat of the genus Neotoma, especially Neotoma Floridana, common in the Southern United States. Its feet and belly are white.
• n. any one of several species of American wild rats of the genus Neotoma found in the Southern United States; -- called also bush rat. The Florida wood rat (Neotoma Floridana) is the best-known species.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

• n. Any species of Neotoma, including large woodland rats of the United States, etc., of the family Nuridæ, subfamily Murinæ, and section Sigmodontes, such as the Florida wood-rat, N. floridana; the Rocky Mountain wood-rat, N. cinerea; the California wood-rat, N. fuscipes; the Texas wood-rat, N. micropus; the ferrugineous wood-rat of Mexico and Central America, N. ferruginea. See pack-rat (under rat), and cut under Neotoma.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• n. any of various small short-tailed rodents of the northern hemisphere having soft fur grey above and white below with furred tails and large ears; some are hosts for Ixodes pacificus and Ixodes scapularis (Lyme disease ticks)
• n. any of various small short-tailed rodents of the northern hemisphere having soft fur grey above and white below with furred tails and large ears; some are hosts for Ixodes pacificus and Ixodes scapularis (Lyme disease ticks)