chipmunk
Americannoun
-
chipmunks
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chipmunk
An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; assimilated variant of earlier chitmunk, apparently from Ojibwe ačitamo·nʔ “red squirrel,” equivalent to ačit- “headfirst, face-down” + derivational elements; so called from the squirrel's manner of descending trees
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:
Eluding us is the numbat, a rare Australian marsupial which could be the love-child of a chipmunk and an anteater.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Originally created in 1958, the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise follows the three singing chipmunk brothers—mischievous Alvin, intellectual Simon and adorable Theodore—and their human father-turned-manager, Dave.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Even a cow hugging a chipmunk, which I believe is now illegal in most of the South.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2025
Scientists have also recorded it in a pet chipmunk in Germany and in healthy captive parrots.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 5, 2023
Hazel had to will herself to look at the chipmunk man and not the thick, winter-white sky.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Each day, I made the three-mile round trip to inspect the warblers, chipmunks and generally mysterious rustlings of the underbrush.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
Between 2007 and 2015, the trio starred in four movies featuring computer-generated chipmunks and bearing punny titles like “The Squeakquel,” “The Road Chip” and “Chipwrecked.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Vandegrift hopes to trap voles, woodchucks, chipmunks, and porcupines himself.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 29, 2024
The groundhog is a member of the squirrel family and related to chipmunks and prairie dogs.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2024
Forests mean that coyotes and weasels have plenty of chipmunks and voles to eat, so they don’t hunt chickens.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
