gray squirrel

American  

[grey skwur-uhl, skwuhr‐] / ˈgreɪ ˈskwɜr əl, ˈskwʌr‐ /

noun

1. a gray-colored arboreal squirrel: North American species include the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis ) of the eastern and midwestern U.S. and southeastern Canada, the western gray squirrel (S. griseus ) of the coastal western U.S. and Mexico, the Arizona gray squirrel (S. arizonensis ) of eastern Arizona and adjacent Mexico, and the Mexican gray squirrel (S. aureogaster ), found from Guatemala north through eastern Mexico to the Florida Keys.

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Etymology

Origin of gray squirrel

An Americanism dating back to 1615–25

Example Sentences

She had been happily feeding the gray squirrel — “Little Buddy,” she called it — since spring.

From Washington Post • Apr. 9, 2022

These are a different species from the common Eastern gray squirrel, but both are experts at navigating treetops.

From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2021

Seems the gray squirrel population has overwhelmed the host red squirrels.

From Washington Post • Apr. 24, 2020

In the end, there was little they could do to prevent the eastern gray squirrel from dying alone on a cold and rainy January night.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 1, 2018

That's when a gray squirrel leaps out of the trash like a firecracker on the Fourth of July.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi