DCHP-3

prairie dog

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1 — Obs.

a small fox, Vulpes velox hebes, once common on the prairies.

See: kit fox(def. 1a)

Quotations

1823
The Fulvous-necked Fox . . . is the Prairie Dog of the French settlers in America.
2†

a marmot, Cynomys ludovicianus, once common on the southern prairies.

Quotations

1833
. . . the wistonwish or prairie marmot . . . is called prairie dog by Sergeant Guss and Lieut. Pike and it is also the barking squirrel of Lewis and Clarke.
1887
. . . looked at me as if he were a prairie dog of yonder town of quaint, brown, sleek-furred marmots, whose cry is like that of chattering angry birds.
1961
"I've seen me . . . lying at the edge of a field in Saskatchewan spying on the prairie dogs. . . ."