flying opossum
- noun
- /ˈflaɪɪŋ əˈpɑsəm/
- Australian
:
oposum volador
- The flying opossum leaps from tree to tree using the skin flaps along its body to glide.
Examples
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Many families in Australia have spotted a flying opossum gliding through their backyard at night.
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The flying opossum glided gracefully between the trees.
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Unlike regular opossums, the flying opossum can travel long distances without touching the ground.
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Did you see the flying opossum last night?
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Many families in Australia have spotted a flying opossum gliding through their backyard at night.
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The flying opossum leaps from tree to tree using the skin flaps along its body to glide.
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Unlike regular opossums, the flying opossum can travel long distances without touching the ground.
Synonyms
A small animal that glides and carries its young in a pouch, like a sugar glider
A small Australian animal active at night that glides between trees using skin folds
A small animal like a mouse that glides between trees using skin between its legs
A very small gliding mammal from Australia that carries its young in a pouch and has a feather-shaped tail
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'flying' (from 'fly') modifies 'opossum', so a learner who knows both words will infer an opossum that flies or glides. Although biologically these animals glide rather than perform powered flight, that nuance does not block a B1 learner’s ability to derive the basic meaning; the modifier-noun pattern is cross-linguistically common (cf. 'flying squirrel').
Etymology
Flying opossum comes from how the animal looks: it is an opossum with wide skin flaps along its sides that let it fly short distances by gliding between trees at night, so people called it 'flying' even though it really 'glides' rather than truly flying.
