Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Chipmunk

Chip′munkˊ

,
Noun.
[Indian name.]
(Zool.)
A squirrel-like animal of the genus
Tamias
, sometimes called the
striped squirrel
,
chipping squirrel
,
ground squirrel
,
hackee
. The common species of the United States is the
Tamias striatus
.
[Written also
chipmonk
,
chipmuck
, and
chipmuk
.]

Definition 2024

chipmunk

chipmunk

English

A chipmunk.

Noun

chipmunk ‎(plural chipmunks)

  1. A squirrel-like rodent of the genus Tamias, native mainly to North America.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

chipmunk ‎(third-person singular simple present chipmunks, present participle chipmunking, simple past and past participle chipmunked)

  1. To speed up an audio recording, especially a song, to make the voices high-pitched.

Etymology

1832; alteration (influenced by chipping squirrel) of earlier chitmunk, from older Ojibwe ačitamo˙nˀ ‎(“squirrels”) (modern ajidamóóg), literally ‘those who descend headlong’, from ačit- ‎(“headfirst, face-down”) (compare modern ajijibizo ‎(“he falls headfirst”), ajidagoojin ‎(“he hangs upside down”)). The verb developed due to the high-pitched voices of the American cartoon chipmunks in the group Alvin and the Chipmunks, who later starred in a popular children's TV show in the 1980s.

Similar Results