woodchuck

[woo d-chuhk]

noun

a stocky North American burrowing rodent, Marmota monax, that hibernates in the winter.

Origin of woodchuck

1665–75, Americanism; presumably a reshaping by folk etymology of a word in a Southern New England Algonquian language; compare Narragansett (E spelling) ockqutchaun woodchuck

Also called chuck, groundhog.

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

Examples from the Web for woodchuck

Historical Examples of woodchuck

Alan would none of it; he was off to his woodchuck or groundhog.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
"Oh, I'm not going to hurt you, old Mr. Woodchuck," said Fido.
A Little Book of Profitable Tales
Eugene Field
But I made a noise, so the woodchuck did not come out again.
Harper's Young People, July 27, 1880
Various
The groundhog or woodchuck is the best-known example of the group.
The Meaning of Evolution
Samuel Christian Schmucker
To me the daisy, the mountain stream, the woodchuck 82 and my Art!
Iole
Robert W. Chambers

British Dictionary definitions for woodchuck

woodchuck

noun

a North American marmot, Marmota monax, having coarse reddish-brown furAlso called: groundhog

Word Origin for woodchuck

C17: by folk etymology from Cree otcheck fisher, marten

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

Word Origin and History for woodchuck

1670s, alteration (influenced by wood (n.)) of Cree (Algonquian) otchek or Ojibwa otchig, "marten," the name subsequently transferred to the groundhog.