muskrat
Americannoun
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muskrats,
plural
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muskrat
plural
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a large, aquatic, North American rodent, Ondatra zibethica, having a musky odor.
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its thick, light-brown fur, used for coats, for hats, as a trimming, etc.
noun
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a North American beaver-like amphibious rodent, Ondatra zibethica, closely related to but larger than the voles: family Cricetidae
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the brown fur of this animal
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either of two closely related rodents, Ondatra obscurus or Neofiber alleni ( round-tailed muskrat )
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of muskrat
1680–90, alteration, by folk etymology, of musquash
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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:
Ms. Carter walked over with her camera and zoomed in on the dead muskrat, now on its back with its feet in the air.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2022
A muskrat population oscillates 33 above and below average during the year, reaching the lowest value in January.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 1, 2021
They labeled as "high" risk animals like white-tailed deer, the Chinese hamster, the beluga whale, the giant anteater and the muskrat.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2021
Key lyric: “Forest hearth and muskrat wine / And felted touch near river’s crest.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2021
The muskrat did us the favor of emptying it.
From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin
While these mussels are not harvested for human consumption, larger species, like waterbirds, raccoons, muskrats and otters, regularly eat freshwater mussels, meaning the contamination could pass up the food chain, Pankratz said.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2024
A city where bullfrogs sing in marshes, where otters and muskrats frolic along the waterfront, and where kingfishers perform aerial acrobatics into ponds thick with fish.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2023
Mussels help the ecosystem in other ways, too: Their beds make a good habitat for insects, and the mussels are a food source for muskrats and otters.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2023
But they are quick and agile, and their prey can include everything from fish and rabbits to birds and muskrats.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2022
Dead rabbits, muskrats, opossums, and fish were also found in numbers, and one of the local schools made the collection of insecticide-poisoned birds a science project.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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