marmot

/ˈmɑrmət/

/ˈmɑmət/

Other forms: marmots

A marmot is a furry animal that looks like a very large squirrel. The groundhog is the most solitary member of the marmot family.

Marmots are the heaviest members of the squirrel family, weighing as much as 22 pounds. You can find these big rodents all over the Northern Hemisphere, from the French Alps to the steppes of Eurasia. Although groundhogs prefer to keep to themselves, many marmots are quite social. They all have long front teeth that keep growing, requiring them to gnaw constantly, and are herbivores. Marmot is derived from the Latin murem montis, "mountain mouse."

Definitions of marmot

1. noun

   stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter
   types:

   Marmota monax, groundhog, woodchuck

   a reddish brown North American marmot

   Marmota caligata, hoary marmot, whistler, whistling marmot

   large North American mountain marmot

   Marmota flaviventris, rockchuck, yellowbelly marmot

   heavy-bodied yellowish-brown marmot of rocky areas of western North America

   type of:

   gnawer, rodent

   relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing