viscacha

Or viz·ca·cha

[vi-skah-chuh]

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.

viscacha

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of viscacha¹

1595–1605; < Spanish < Quechua wisk’acha

Word History and Origins

Origin of viscacha¹

C17: from Spanish, from Quechuan wiskácha

Example Sentences

When I saw a viscacha—a weird rodent with a rabbit body and a squirrel tail—I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.

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These villages being on the level prairie, the viscachas are careful to build them high enough so that floods will not reach them.

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The viscachas and chinchillas resemble the rabbit in form and color, but they have shorter ears and long rough tails.

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There the biscacha, or viscacha—as it is indifferently spelt—plays pretty much the same part as the rabbit in our northern lands.

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They were chinchillas and viscachas, which he had taken out of his snares set overnight.

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