agouti
Americannoun
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any of several short-haired, short-eared, rabbitlike rodents of the genus Dasyprocta, of South and Central America and the West Indies, destructive to sugarcane.
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an irregularly barred pattern of the fur of certain rodents.
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an animal having fur of this pattern.
noun
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any hystricomorph rodent of the genus Dasyprocta, of Central and South America and the Caribbean: family Dasyproctidae. Agoutis are agile and long-legged, with hooflike claws, and are valued for their meat
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a pattern of fur in certain rodents, characterized by irregular stripes
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of agouti
First recorded in 1725–35; from French, from Spanish agutí, from Tupian agutí, agoutí, acutí
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But even the best-sniffing rodent, the Central American agouti, had fewer olfactory genes than three other species.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 27, 2023
The nine-banded armadillo and Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth followed, while the Central American agouti came in fourth.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
One key souvenir from that mating: a jackrabbit version of agouti, the gene that normally revs up its activity and turns snowshoe fur white in the winter, the researchers report today in Science.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 21, 2018
Some mammals have far fewer neurons—a hamster’s brain, for example, has just 90 million; and some have much more—the agouti, a kind of rodent, has 857 million by her count.
From Slate ● Mar. 1, 2018
Nonetheless, our golden agouti vanished, stolen by someone who ate it, Father suspected.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Game of all sorts in consequence abounded at the Chimneys, capybaras, pigeons, agouties, grouse, etc.
From The Mysterious Island by Verne, Jules
Quite a stock of live animals, agouties, sheep, goats, poultry, &c., were stowed between decks, the material wants of the travellers were likewise provided for by numerous cases of preserved meats of the best brands.
From Godfrey Morgan A Californian Mystery by Verne, Jules
There were a dozen agouties, five or six sheep, and as many goats, who were quietly browsing on the first vegetation on the very edge of the prairie.
From Godfrey Morgan A Californian Mystery by Verne, Jules
They eyed, the professor especially, the sheep, agouties, and fowls which went and came round Will Tree.
From Godfrey Morgan A Californian Mystery by Verne, Jules
How he envied the poultry, the agouties, and the sheep, who cheerfully quenched their thirst without the addition of such saccharine or alcoholic mixtures to their water from the stream!
From Godfrey Morgan A Californian Mystery by Verne, Jules
There are lots of parrots, lizards, hummingbirds and agoutis to enjoy too.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 16, 2018
Monkeys, agoutis, armadillos and sloths dove from the forest into the water.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 6, 2018
Deer, agoutis, magpie-jays, wasps, and monkeys frequent the bowls of water in front of their hut.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 30, 2015
The research group studied agouti caching on a Panamanian island, Barro Colorado, where they marked 16 agoutis for individual identification and set up video cameras to monitor activity at cache sites.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 16, 2012
In habits agoutis are nocturnal, dwelling in forests, where they conceal themselves during the day in hollow tree-trunks, or in burrows among roots.
From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
