rodent
[rohd-nt]
- belonging or pertaining to the gnawing or nibbling mammals of the order Rodentia, including the mice, squirrels, beavers, etc.
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- a rodent mammal.
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Origin of rodent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rodents
Contemporary Examples
Another week, he caught scores of the rodents that had been conducting raids on vegetables.
Promising work has been completed in rodents but none yet has been reported in primates.
Snakes, lizards, rodents, fish, spiders, crickets—all inside an apartment no larger than a hotel suite.
The initial study was based on observations of tumors in only 18 rodents and one rabbit.
This is a task where some rodents are at least as good as humans.
Are You Smarter Than a Mouse? Excerpt from Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain PowerDan Hurley
January 10, 2014
Historical Examples
For a moment there was silence, broken only by the noise of the rodents.
Frank Roscoe's SecretAllen Chapman
Such is the case with nearly all the great family of rodents.
The Truth About WomanC. Gasquoine Hartley
Among the rodents I fancy the nest is always built by the female.
The Wit of a Duck and Other PapersJohn Burroughs
The Jerboas are, perhaps, the most singular of all the rodents.
The ureters open into the fundus of the bladder as in some Rodents.
rodent
- any of the relatively small placental mammals that constitute the order Rodentia, having constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing. The group includes porcupines, rats, mice, squirrels, marmots, etc
- (as modifier)rodent characteristics
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Word Origin
C19: from Latin rōdere to gnaw, corrode
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for rodents
rodent
n.
1835 (as an adjective 1833), from Modern Latin Rodentia, the order name, from Latin rodentem (nominative rodens), present participle of rodere "to gnaw, eat away," from PIE root *red- "to scrape, scratch, gnaw" (cf. Sanskrit radati "scrapes, gnaws," radanah "tooth;" Latin radere "to scrape;" Welsh rhathu "scrape, polish"). Uncertain connection to Old English rætt (see rat (n.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
rodent
[rōd′nt]
- Any of various very numerous, mostly small mammals of the order Rodentia, having large front teeth used for gnawing. The teeth grow throughout the animal's life, and are kept from getting too long by gnawing. Rodents make up about half the living species of mammals, and include rats, mice, beavers, squirrels, lemmings, shrews, and hamsters.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.