rodent

noun

ro·dent | \ ˈrō-dᵊnt

Definition of rodent

1 : any of an order (Rodentia) of relatively small gnawing mammals (such as a mouse, squirrel, or beaver) that have in both jaws a single pair of incisors with a chisel-shaped edge

2 : a small mammal (such as a rabbit or a shrew) other than a true rodent

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Examples of rodent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Users can report tweets that compare religions to plagues or viruses, or describe certain groups as insects or rodents. — Sara Harrison, WIRED, "Twitter and Instagram Unveil New Ways to Combat Hate—Again," 11 July 2019 In her new book, Conscience, Churchland argues that mammals — humans, yes, but also monkeys and rodents and so on — feel moral intuitions because of how our brains developed over the course of evolution. — Sigal Samuel, Vox, "How your brain invents morality," 8 July 2019 Many scientists think unprompted laughter most likely evolved from play vocalizations, which are also produced by nonhuman primates, rodents and other mammals. — Diana Kwon, Scientific American, "Babies Know the Difference between the Laughter of Friends and Strangers," 1 July 2019 Even rattlesnakes have an important role to play by keeping our rodent population in check. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Who knew snakes drink water?," 29 June 2019 High soil moisture can help reproductive success for rodents, including mice, gophers and ground squirrels — rattlesnakes’ main food sources. — Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "Rattlesnake season is here. Be prepared.," 28 June 2019 Many of these animals, as well as rodents and rabbits, could have survived by riding out the fire in underground burrows, reappearing after the fire has passed, Burnett said. — Priscilla Totiyapungprasert, azcentral, "Rabbits, bears and bobcats: How has the Woodbury Fire affected Arizona wildlife habitat?," 26 June 2019 Rabbit, rodent, fish and bird food are all in decline, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association. — The Economist, "Pet-ownership is booming across the world," 22 June 2019 The mongoose was introduced to several islands in Hawaii and the West Indies to control the rodent populations on sugarcane plantations in the 1800s. — Christina Nunez, National Geographic, "Invasive species, explained," 5 June 2019

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

History and Etymology for rodent

borrowed from the base of New Latin Rodentia, order name, from neuter plural of Latin rōdent-, rōdens, present participle of rōdere "to gnaw, nibble, eat away," perhaps going back to Indo-European *Hr̥h₃d-, *Hreh₃d-, whence also Hittite ardu- "saw (off)," Sanskrit rádati "(s/he) bites, gnaws, cuts, opens"