Meaning & use
porcupine
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablebiology
A large rodent that has sharp spines, called quills, covering its back and sides for protection.
Grammar: Countable: one porcupine, two porcupines.
Patterns
- a porcupine's quills
- porcupine quills
- a porcupine in a tree
A porcupine waddled across the road at night.
The porcupine raised its quills when it felt threatened.
Porcupines are rodents, not related to hedgehogs.
Word forms
| plural | porcupines |
|---|
Common combinations
- porcupine quills
- The dog got porcupine quills stuck in its nose.
- a porcupine's defense
- A porcupine's defense is its sharp quills.
- crested porcupine
- The crested porcupine is found in parts of Africa and Europe.
- porcupine fish
- The porcupine fish inflates its body when scared.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hedgehog
- A hedgehog is a small insect-eating mammal with spines, not a rodent; it is much smaller and common in gardens.
Commonly confused: porcupine or hedgehog?
porcupine vs hedgehog
People often mix these up because both have spines. A porcupine is a large rodent with long quills, while a hedgehog is a small insect-eater with shorter spines.
Practice
A porcupine protects itself by ___.
Choose one answer.
Porcupines cannot shoot quills; they raise them to warn predators, and the quills detach on contact. 'Shooting its quills' is a common myth but is not true.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “porcupine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.