squirrel

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squirrel

/ˈskwɪ.ɹ(ə)l/ Australia, UK
/ˈskwɝ(ə)l/ Canada, US
/ˈskwɪ.ɾ(ə)l/ Scotland, Wales
/ˈskwʌ.ɹəl/ New York City
/ˈskwɪ.ɹəl/
/ˈskwɪrᵻl/ South Asia

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)l, -ɪɹəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English squirel, squyrelle, from Anglo-Norman esquirel and Old French escurel (whence French écureuil), from Vulgar Latin *scūriolus, diminutive of *scūrius, variant of Latin sciūrus, from Ancient Greek σκίουρος (skíouros, “shadow-tail”, from σκιά (skiá, “shadow”) + οὐρά (ourá, “tail”)).

Displaced native Middle English acquerne, aquerne, from Old English ācweorna. See dialectical English con and puristic English oakwern.

noun squirrels · squirril

Any of the rodents of the family Sciuridae. tree squirrels
Similar: sciurid
especially Any of those distinguished typically by a large bushy tail; any of the tree squirrels of subfamily Sciurinae or phenotypically similar sciurids.
Similar: sciurid, scug
figuratively Someone who displays squirrel-like qualities such as stealing or hoarding objects.
One of the small rollers of a carding machine which work with the large cylinder.
derogatory, often A person, usually a freezoner, who applies L. Ron Hubbard's technology in a heterodox manner.

verb squirrels · squirreling · squirrelling · squirreled · squirrelled

figuratively, transitive To store in a secretive manner, to hide something for future use.
figuratively, intransitive To become distracted.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: chipmunk, bird, mole, fart, flatulence, store, trained, marmot, rodent, sciurid, ground-squirrel, flying-squirrel, woodchuck, sciurus, groundhog, prairie-dog

Translations

Every language

noun rodent

Español	ardilla
한국어	다람쥐 daramjwi
日本語	栗鼠 risu, リス risu
中文	松鼠 sōngshǔ, 灰鼠 huīshǔ, 栗鼠 lìshǔ
हिन्दी	गिलहरी gilahrī
Kiswahili	kidiri, kuchakulo
Português	esquilo
Français	écureuil, écureuille
Deutsch	Eichhörnchen, Hörnchen, Eichhorn, Eichkatze, Eichkätzchen, Eichkater
Italiano	scoiattolo
Ελληνικά	σκίουρος skíouros
Română	veveriță
Русский	бе́лка bélka, ве́верица véverica, ве́кша vékša, вевёрка vevjórka
Tiếng Việt	sóc
العربية	سِنْجَاب sinjāb
עברית	סנאי sna'í

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MLA

"squirrel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/squirrel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

squirrel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/squirrel

Chicago

"squirrel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/squirrel.

BibTeX

@misc{squirrel_2026,
  title = {squirrel},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/squirrel},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}