Definition of ground squirrel
: any of various burrowing North American and Eurasian rodents (especially genus Spermophilus) of the squirrel family that often live in colonies especially in open areas (such as grasslands)
— called also spermophile
Examples of ground squirrel in a Sentence
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Since squirrels haven’t been shown to recognize their own reflections, this trial let researchers observe how a ground squirrel would treat another member of its species.
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Maddie Bender, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2021
Considering that a heavy ground squirrel weighs a pound, this activity struck me as akin to digging ditches 12 hours a day for minimum wage—the effort was grossly disproportionate to the reward.
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Philip Caputo, Field & Stream, 22 Nov. 2020
Marmots a type of large ground squirrel that is eaten in some parts of China and the neighboring country Mongolia, and which have historically caused plague outbreaks in the region.
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Nectar Gan And Jessie Yeung, CNN, 7 Aug. 2020
Your odds of seeing wild animals — ranging from arctic ground squirrels, marmots and Dall sheep to bears and moose — are good, considering the trail isn’t as trafficked as others in the Chugach.
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Bailey Berg, Anchorage Daily News, 28 May 2020
Whereas some fears are innate—such as humans’ fear of spiders or snakes or a ground squirrel’s fear of foxes—others are learned, either through direct experience or observing others.
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Jason G. Goldman, Scientific American, 21 May 2020
Varmint hunting encompasses a wide variety of critters, ranging in size from ground squirrels to even feral hogs.
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Richard Mann, Field & Stream, 17 Sep. 2019
Just is the second photographer in recent memory to capture a ground squirrel smelling a yellow flower.
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Fox News, 27 Feb. 2020
In the clip, captured at ’s Kruger National Park, a Cape cobra, which would be intimidating to many much larger mammals, including this human, is seen lunging at a Cape ground squirrel.
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Melissa Locker, Time, 3 Mar. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ground squirrel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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23 Sep 2021
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Cite this Entry
“Ground squirrel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ground%20squirrel. Accessed 23 Sep. 2021.
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Time Traveler for ground squirrel
The first known use of ground squirrel was in 1688
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