prairie dog

noun

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Definition of prairie dog

: any of a genus (Cynomys) of gregarious burrowing rodents of the squirrel family chiefly of central and western U.S. plains; especially : a black-tailed rodent (C. ludovicianus) that usually lives in extensive colonial burrows

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Recent Examples of prairie dog from the Web

Franklin Park Zoo’s prairie dog colony is welcoming 15 tiny additions, as young pups emerge from their underground burrows to greet visitors.

— laney ruckstuhl, BostonGlobe.com, "At Franklin Park Zoo, a family of prairie dogs welcomes 15 pups," 17 May 2018
The park is home to a wide variety of wildlife, from prairie dogs to wild horses and bison.

— Washington Post, "North Dakota tries to establish Theodore Roosevelt library," 27 Mar. 2018
The four zones are: Desert: Just beyond the entrance will be a dung beetle globe fountain, rope climb and an animal care facility adjacent to an exhibit featuring prairie dogs, burrowing owls and fennec foxes.

— roger showley, sandiegouniontribune.com, "$30M record gift will jumpstart a new Children's Zoo, opening in 2021," 12 Jan. 2018
While the animals were housed in a facility in Illinois, some of them infected prairie dogs that were later sold as pets.

— Washington Post, "The story must be told.," 3 Nov. 2017
The Badlands in the United States are the site of visually stunning scenery and quintessentially American animals such as the bison and the prairie dog.

— staff, The Christian Science Monitor, "Top Picks: Smithsonian Channel's 'America’s Badlands,' the movie 'Marjorie Prime,' and more top picks," 15 Dec. 2017
The youngest was a 3-year-old girl bitten on the finger by her new pet prairie dog.

— Washington Post, "The story must be told.," 3 Nov. 2017
And all three occur because of Yersinia pestis—a species of bacteria carried by fleas that live on rodents like ground squirrels, rats, mice and prairie dogs.

— erin blakemore, Smithsonian, "Plague Infects Three People in New Mexico," 28 June 2017
The Sheriff’s Office takes care of more than 100 animals — ranging from llamas, to skunks, to prairie dogs, to Mo the sloth — at the Animal Farm, located outside the jail.

— david goodhue, miamiherald, "Animals move into cells evacuated by inmates," 9 Sep. 2017

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