viscacha

or viz·ca·cha

[ vi-skah-chuh ]

/ vɪˈskɑ tʃə /

noun

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

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.

Nearby words

visard, visayan, visayan islands, visby, visc., viscacha, viscaria, viscera, viscerad, visceral, visceral anesthesia

Origin of viscacha

1595–1605; < Spanish < Quechua wisk’acha

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

Examples from the Web for viscacha

There the biscacha, or viscacha—as it is indifferently spelt—plays pretty much the same part as the rabbit in our northern lands.
Gaspar the Gaucho|Mayne Reid
Closely related to the chinchilla is the viscacha, which is found very abundantly in the great pampas districts of South America.
The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood
In many forms this part of the sternum is much broader than the pieces which follow; this is so with the Viscacha.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia|Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for viscacha

viscacha

vizcacha

/ (vɪsˈkætʃə) /

noun

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

mountain viscacha the mountain chinchillaSee chinchilla (def. 3)

Word Origin for viscacha

C17: from Spanish, from Quechuan wiskácha

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