viscacha

American  

[vi-skah-chuh] / vɪˈskɑ tʃə /

Or vizcacha

noun

1. a burrowing rodent, Lagostomus maximus, about the size of a groundhog, inhabiting the pampas of Paraguay and Argentina, allied to the chinchilla.

2. Also called mountain viscacha.  a related rodent of the genus Lagidium, of the Andes, about the size of a squirrel, having rabbitlike ears and a squirrellike tail.

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viscacha British  

/ vɪsˈkætʃə /

noun

1. a gregarious burrowing hystricomorph rodent, Lagostomus maximus, of southern South America, similar to but larger than the chinchillas: family Chinchillidae

2. the mountain chinchilla See chinchilla

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Etymology

Origin of viscacha

1595–1605; < Spanish < Quechua wisk’acha

Example Sentences

With regard to the viscacha it is very interesting to note that these highly-sociable little animals not only live peaceably together in each village, but that whole villages visit each other at nights.

From Mutual Aid; a factor of evolution by Kropotkin, Petr Alekseevich, kniaz

Another ploughman besides the prairie-dog and the viscacha, who isn't popular with farmers—although Thompson Seton calls him "The Master Ploughman of the West"—is the pocket-gopher.

From The Adventures of a Grain of Dust by Hawksworth, Hallam

The viscacha makes his home, like the rabbit, by burrowing in the ground, where he remains during daylight.

From Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South America by Ray, G. Whitfield

A poor girl got very severely burnt, and the remedy applied was a poultice of mashed ears of viscacha.

From Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South America by Ray, G. Whitfield

The prairie-dog's native home is on our Western plains, but he has a cousin away off in South America—although he may never have heard of him—called the viscacha.

From The Adventures of a Grain of Dust by Hawksworth, Hallam