rodent

[rohd-nt]

adjective

belonging or pertaining to the gnawing or nibbling mammals of the order Rodentia, including the mice, squirrels, beavers, etc.

noun

a rodent mammal.

Origin of rodent

1825–35; < New Latin Rodentia Rodentia

Related formsro·dent·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rodents

hare, bunny, insect, ant, mosquito, flea, buck, cony, capon, doe, cuniculus, cottontail, chinchilla, lapin, coney, lagomorph, fly, rat, snake, weasel

Examples from the Web for rodents

Contemporary Examples of rodents

Another week, he caught scores of the rodents that had been conducting raids on vegetables.
The Crazy Medieval Island of Sark
Liza Foreman
October 4, 2014
Promising work has been completed in rodents but none yet has been reported in primates.
Emory Will Wage High-Tech War on Ebola
Kent Sepkowitz
August 1, 2014
Snakes, lizards, rodents, fish, spiders, crickets—all inside an apartment no larger than a hotel suite.
The Weird Underground World of Urban Animal Husbandry
Dale Eisinger
May 19, 2014
The initial study was based on observations of tumors in only 18 rodents and one rabbit.
How Big Pharma Holds Back in the War on Cancer
ProPublica
April 23, 2014
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 Power
Dan Hurley
January 10, 2014

Historical Examples of rodents

For a moment there was silence, broken only by the noise of the rodents.
Frank Roscoe's Secret
Allen Chapman
Such is the case with nearly all the great family of rodents.
The Truth About Woman
C. Gasquoine Hartley
Among the rodents I fancy the nest is always built by the female.
The Wit of a Duck and Other Papers
John Burroughs
The Jerboas are, perhaps, the most singular of all the rodents.
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found
Mayne Reid
The ureters open into the fundus of the bladder as in some Rodents.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 14, Slice 2
Various

British Dictionary definitions for rodents

rodent

noun

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

Derived Formsrodent-like, adjective

Word Origin for rodent

C19: from Latin rōdere to gnaw, corrode

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

Word Origin and History for rodents

rodent

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.)).

rodents in Science

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.