viscacha

or viz·ca·cha

[ vi-skah-chuh ]

/ vɪˈskɑ tʃə /

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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.

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Origin of viscacha

1595–1605; <Spanish <Quechua wisk’acha

Words nearby viscacha

vis-à-vis, Visayan, Visayan Islands, Visby, Visc., viscacha, viscaria, viscera, viscerad, visceral, visceral anesthesia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use viscacha in a sentence

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
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
Why does the white huntsman earth himself like a timid viscacha?
The Guide of the Desert|Gustave Aimard

The fur of the viscacha is not so pretty, being of a brownish and white mixture.
The Forest Exiles|Mayne Reid

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