gray squirrel

American  

[gray skwur-uhl, skwuhr-] / ˈgreɪ ˈskwɜr əl, ˈskwʌr- /

noun

1. a gray-colored arboreal squirrel: North American species include the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis ) of the eastern and midwestern U.S. and southeastern Canada, the western gray squirrel (S. griseus ) of the coastal western U.S. and Mexico, the Arizona gray squirrel (S. arizonensis ) of eastern Arizona and adjacent Mexico, and the Mexican gray squirrel (S. aureogaster ), found from Guatemala north through eastern Mexico to the Florida Keys.

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Etymology

Origin of gray squirrel

An Americanism dating back to 1615–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gray squirrel

You reviewed my picture and you were like, ‘Yeah, that is a squirrel. An Eastern gray squirrel.’’’

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

Angela’s photo is of a gray squirrel carefully navigating a barbed-wire fence.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 11, 2022

Seems the gray squirrel population has overwhelmed the host red squirrels.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 24, 2020

Ten feet away a chubby gray squirrel hung upside down on the trunk of an ancient, bony tree.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2018

There on a limb sat a gray squirrel.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls