lemming

American  

[lem-ing] / ˈlɛm ɪŋ /

noun

1. any of various small, mouselike rodents of several genera including Lemmus, Myopus, and Dicrostonyx, of far northern regions, as L. lemmus, of Norway, Sweden, etc., noted for periodic mass migrations that sometimes involve crossing bodies of water. Incidental drownings that have occurred during such passage gave rise to the myth of mass suicides among supposedly frenzied lemmings jumping from cliffs into the sea.

2. a person who follows the will of others, especially in a mass movement, and heads straight into a situation or circumstance that is dangerous, stupid, or destructive.

   These lemmings that eat up conspiracy theories are so blinded by lies, they don’t even see the cliff they’re about to plummet over.

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lemming British  

/ ˈlɛmɪŋ /

noun

1. any of various volelike rodents of the genus Lemmus and related genera, of northern and arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America: family Cricetidae. The Scandinavian variety, Lemmus lemmus, migrates periodically when its population reaches a peak

2. a member of any large group following an unthinking course towards mass destruction

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Other Word Forms

• lemming-like adjective

Etymology

Origin of lemming

First recorded in 1600–10; from Norwegian; cognate with Icelandic lómundr “lemming,” læmingr “loon”; akin to Gothic laian “to revile,” Icelandic lā “to blame”

Example Sentences

“You just saw woolly mammoth, reindeer, lemming, bison,” he said.

From New York Times • May 16, 2016

Later in the day, Stewart Brand, who created the “Whole Earth Catalog,” amused the crowd when he took a showy tumble off the stage, to impersonate the death of a lemming.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 1, 2014

DUP leader Peter Robinson has called critics within his party "people with the strategic vision of a lemming".

From BBC • Sep. 25, 2014

Lo and behold, we are just as sensitive to the scent of the opposite sex as the humble lemming.

From Slate • Aug. 25, 2014

Collecting her red markers as she walked home, she kicked open old lemming nests in the hope of finding baby weasels.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George