chipmunk

[chip-muhngk]

noun

any of several small, striped, terrestrial squirrels of the genera Tamias, of North America, and Eutamia, of Asia and North America, especially T. striatus, of eastern North America.

Origin of chipmunk

1825–35, Americanism; assimilated variant of earlier chitmunk, apparently < Ojibwa ačitamo·nʔ red squirrel, equivalent to ačit- headfirst, face-down + derivational elements; so called from the squirrel's manner of descending trees

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for chipmunk

Contemporary Examples of chipmunk

From the religious (‘The Holly and the Ivy’) to the secular (‘The Chipmunk Song’), my top 20.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.
Michael Tomasky
December 24, 2014
The British rapper, better known as Chipmunk, posted a melancholy message a few weeks ago to his followers on Twitter.
Does Twitter Prevent Suicide?
Benjamin Popper
November 29, 2009

Historical Examples of chipmunk

And what a regular old salt, though hardly as big as a chipmunk!
Mayflower (Flor de mayo)
Vicente Blasco Ibez
I think a chipmunk is the happiest, cheerfulest thing I know.
A Campfire Girl's First Council Fire
Jane L. Stewart
But Mr. Chipmunk didn't envy his big cousins their fine tails; not he!
Mother West Wind's Children
Thornton W. Burgess
On the ground he is more helpless than a chipmunk, because less agile.
Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers
John Burroughs
One of the enemies of the chipmunk, as I discovered lately, is the weasel.
Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers
John Burroughs

British Dictionary definitions for chipmunk

chipmunk

noun

any burrowing sciurine rodent of the genera Tamias of E North America and Eutamias of W North America and Asia, typically having black-striped yellowish fur and cheek pouches for storing food

Word Origin for chipmunk

C19: of Algonquian origin; compare Ojibwa atchitamon squirrel, literally: headfirst, referring to its method of descent from trees

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chipmunk

1829 (also chitmunk, 1832), from Algonquian, probably Ojibwa ajidamoo (in the Ottawa dialect ajidamoonh) "red squirrel," literally "head first," or "one who descends trees headlong" (containing ajid- "upside down"), probably influenced by English chip and mink. Other early names for it included ground squirrel and striped squirrel.