nutria

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noun nu·tria \ˈnü-trē-ə, ˈnyü-\

Definition of nutria

1 : the durable usually light brown fur of a nutria
2 : a large South American semiaquatic rodent (Myocastor coypus) with webbed hind feet and a round nearly hairless tail that has been introduced into parts of Europe, Asia, and North America

Recent Examples of nutria from the Web

Wildlife BuzzFeed Says: Alligators, nutrias, wild hogs, snakes, raccoons, bats, and anything else that roams the backwoods.

— travis m. andrews, Southern Living, "22 Reasons BuzzFeed Should Spend More Time in the South," 11 July 2017
The storm was also blamed for washing hundreds of dead nutria ashore on a Mississippi beach.

— laura mcknight, NOLA.com, "Tropical depression forms in Atlantic, forecasters expect little strengthening," 6 July 2017
Terrebonne had 82 percent of the total nutria damage recorded in the latest survey.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "Nutria bite into new territory, but overall Louisiana wetland damage down," 5 July 2017
Unlike native Louisiana muskrat, which chomp the leaves of plants, nutria go straight for the roots.

— tristan baurick, NOLA.com, "Ground zero for nutria feeding frenzy: Terrebonne Parish's vast marsh," 5 June 2017
The wild boar effort contrasts with one about 20 years ago to get nutria, an invasive rodent, on restaurant menus and grocery shelves.

— Washington Post, "Bad beasts, good treats: Feral hog slaughterhouse takes off," 26 Apr. 2017
This season’s collection continues earlier themes but is more exaggerated, with oversize bags, coats and leopard-print nutria beanies dominating the looks.

— stuart emmrich, New York Times, "PARIS — Jonathan Anderson, a.k.a. J. W. Anderson, the reigning," 22 Jan. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nutria.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.