chinchilla
Americannoun
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a small, South American rodent, Chinchilla laniger, raised for its soft, silvery gray fur: now rare in the wild.
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the fur of this animal.
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something, as a coat or jacket, made of chinchilla fur.
a floor-length chinchilla.
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a thick, napped, woolen fabric for coats.
noun
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a small gregarious hystricomorph rodent, Chinchilla laniger, inhabiting mountainous regions of South America: family Chinchillidae. It has a stocky body and is bred in captivity for its soft silvery grey fur
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the highly valued fur of this animal
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any of several long-tailed rodents of the genus Lagidium, having coarse poor quality fur
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a breed of rabbit with soft silver-grey fur
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a thick napped woollen cloth used for coats
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chinchilla
1595–1605; < Spanish, perhaps, equivalent to chinche chinch + -illa < Latin -illa diminutive suffix
Vocabulary lists containing chinchilla
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:
Somewhere in the government, a committee will soon convene on the question of the chinchilla.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2026
The costliest felines to insure were the Maine coon, one of the largest house cats, which can be prone to a type of muscle atrophy, and the chinchilla, a popular longhair, Spot Pet Insurance said.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
The scene captured on video is among the findings from an undercover investigation into conditions on Romania’s chinchilla fur farms, carried out last year by the animal welfare charity Humane Society International.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
TL:DR: do not lick your chinchilla while you have monkeypox.
From The Verge ● Aug. 5, 2022
I’m early, as usual—partly to avoid bumping into Eddie in the hallway but also because I was hoping to hold Charles the chinchilla for a couple of minutes before class starts.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
They lack the adorable charisma of chinchillas, porcupines, moles or rats, though.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
They were the first rodents to ever set foot on the continent, where they evolved into well-known groups like guinea pigs, chinchillas, capybaras and porcupines.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024
“You weren’t just dealing with moving 400 chinchillas, which is not as hard, because they’re all one species so you can find new homes more easily for them,” Peet said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 28, 2022
Over decades, the courts have ruled that securities law applies to a wide variety of financial products, including contracts for the sale of chinchillas.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2022
“First the business with your damned chinchillas and then my daughter. I’ve had enough. Go get your things, because you’re coming with me to the city. You’re going to marry Blanca.”
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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.
