urchin

American  

[ur-chin] / ˈɜr tʃɪn /

noun

1. a mischievous boy.

   Synonyms:

   scamp, rascal

2. any small boy or youngster.

3. sea urchin.

4. either of two small rollers covered with card clothing used in conjunction with the cylinder in carding.

5. Chiefly British Dialect. a hedgehog.

6. Obsolete. an elf or mischievous sprite.

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urchin British  

/ ˈɜːtʃɪn /

noun

1. a mischievous roguish child, esp one who is young, small, or raggedly dressed

2. See sea urchin heart urchin

3. an archaic or dialect name for a hedgehog

4. either of the two cylinders in a carding machine that are covered with carding cloth

5. obsolete an elf or sprite

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Etymology

Origin of urchin

1300–50; Middle English urchun, urchon hedgehog < Old North French ( h ) erichon, Old French heriçun < Vulgar Latin *hēriciōn- (stem of *hēriciō ), equivalent to Latin ēric ( ius ) hedgehog + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

“They have a rare species of sea urchin that you find nowhere else in the Archipelago. The spines are a foot long, and they turn red in the presence of predators.”

From Literature

Her fossilized sea urchin, from a beach on the Red Sea, “responds by radiating its own inner joy at being found and loved too,” whispering: “We are two cyclical beings, each with their own story.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Sea urchins play a crucial role in the ocean, acting as ecosystem engineers much like large grazers on land.

From Science Daily

Penelope was losing patience, but she was also beginning to feel sorry for this urchin.

From Literature

The robot plucked sea stars and sea urchins and sea snails from the water and dropped them into rock pools along the shore.

From Literature