porcupine

American  

[pawr-kyuh-pahyn] / ˈpɔr kjəˌpaɪn /

noun

porcupines plural

1. any of several rodents covered with stiff, sharp, erectile spines or quills, as Erethizon dorsatum of North America.

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porcupine British  

/ ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn /

noun

1. any of various large hystricomorph rodents of the families Hystricidae, of Africa, Indonesia, S Europe, and S Asia, and Erethizontidae, of the New World. All species have a body covering of protective spines or quills

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• porcupinish
  adjective
• porcupiny
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• porcupines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of porcupine

1375–1425; late Middle English porcupyne, variant of porcapyne; replacing porke despyne < Middle French porc d'espine thorny pig. See pork, spine

Explanation

A porcupine is a prickly rodent, a round forest animal that's covered in sharp, protective quills. How do you pet a porcupine? Very, very carefully. Porcupine comes from Latin roots, porcus, "pig," and spina, "spine or quill." Fittingly, a regional name for the porcupine is "quill pig." The porcupine is famous for its spines, which become spikier when it's afraid or angry. Less well known is the fact that porcupines also clatter their teeth loudly as a warning — all the more reason for your dog to feel embarrassed after she ends up with a nose full of porcupine quills.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

porcupine porcupines

What followed was a comedy of errors including military drills that outpaced anything this group of office workers had in mind, a rogue porcupine, stranded airplanes and one syringe to the butt of an employee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026

The next day I got up and went over to get in the shower and there was a porcupine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026

“I’m on stage with my target stick, my equipment, and having a porcupine do circles, follow me, roll a ball,” said Jadyn Carnicella, 20, a Simi Valley resident.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025

According to reports at the time there were some clues, including the discovery of straw bedding with porcupine quills in it.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2025

Of all the vermin on this place, J.W. had to take out after a porcupine.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Paterson and Gower used visual references from porcupines to animal embryonic sacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026

They lack the adorable charisma of chinchillas, porcupines, moles or rats, though.

From Salon ● May 11, 2025

The samples from the stall that contained the coronavirus also contained DNA from a variety of animals, including dogs, rabbits, hoary bamboo rats, Malayan porcupines and masked palm civets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2024

Other animals identified as a potential source of the pandemic were the masked palm civet, which was also associated with the Sars outbreak in 2003, as well as hoary bamboo rats and Malayan porcupines.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2024

Boa constrictors, Komodo dragons, croc­odiles, piranhas, ostriches, wolves, lynx, wallabies, manatees, porcupines, orangutans, wild boar—that’s the sort of rainfall you could expect on your umbrella.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel