woodchuck

wood·chuck  (wdchk)

n.

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.

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[By folk etymology, probably of New England Algonquian origin.]

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 wordthat 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.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

woodchuck - reddish brown North American marmot groundhog, Marmota monax marmot - stocky coarse-furred burrowing rodent with a short bushy tail found throughout the northern hemisphere; hibernates in winter