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flying squirrel

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noun

any of various nocturnal tree squirrels, as Glaucomys volans, of the eastern U.S., having folds of skin connecting the fore and hind legs, permitting long, gliding leaps.

Origin of flying squirrel

First recorded in 1605–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flying squirrel

Historical Examples of flying squirrel

  • But the flying-squirrel is less nimble on his feet than the red or the gray.

    Neighbors Unknown

    Charles G. D. Roberts

  • What was it you shot this time, Alec—a pole-cat or a flying-squirrel?

    Told In The Hills

    Marah Ellis Ryan

  • Indeed, the flying-squirrel has little or no advantage over him, and in speed and nimbleness cannot compare with him at all.

  • All but paralyzed by exhaustion and by the utter extremity of his fear, the flying-squirrel stopped racing with his wheel.

    Neighbors Unknown

    Charles G. D. Roberts

  • Till near the first gray of dawn not a flying-squirrel had dared approach its neighborhood.

    Neighbors Unknown

    Charles G. D. Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for flying squirrel

flying squirrel

noun

any nocturnal sciurine rodent of the subfamily Petauristinae, of Asia and North America. Furry folds of skin between the forelegs and hind legs enable these animals to move by gliding leaps
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