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red squirrel

American  

noun

  1. a reddish squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, of North America.


red squirrel British  

noun

  1. a reddish-brown squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris , inhabiting woodlands of Europe and parts of Asia

  2. either of two reddish-brown squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus or T. douglasii , inhabiting forests of North America

"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

Etymology

Origin of red squirrel

An Americanism dating back to 1630–40

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:

"Nowadays you are more likely to see a red squirrel than you are a grey squirrel."

From BBC Jun. 23, 2026

It also wants support for fertility control research and deployment, and protection and enforcement of red squirrel habitat.

From BBC May 2, 2026

The country's flora and fauna will feature on them all, with animals including the red squirrel, puffin and dormouse depicted.

From BBC Aug. 19, 2025

The researchers sequenced and reconstructed four genomes representing medieval strains of M. leprae, including one from a red squirrel.

From Science Daily May 3, 2024

I promised him everything from fried rabbit to a red squirrel stew, but it did no good.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

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