flying squirrel
1
3.9
- noun
- /ˈflaɪɪŋ ˈskwɪrəl/
:
ardilla voladora
- The naturalist explained how a flying squirrel uses its gliding membrane to move rapidly from branch to branch.
- northern flying squirrel
- flying squirrel populations
- flying squirrel movements
Examples
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How about the flying squirrels, the flying squirrels, Loyd?
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Rocky the flying squirrel hadn't flown in years.
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Everybody seems to be searching for the flying squirrel.
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So like the northern flying squirrel in the lower peninsula of Michigan, it can't get anywhere.
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Big flying squirrels!
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While hiking at dusk, we spotted a flying squirrel gliding gracefully between the trees.
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At night, the park is alive with the sounds of flying squirrels as they glide through the forest canopy.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound describes a squirrel that flies (moves through the air), so its meaning is transparently built from 'flying' + 'squirrel' and is directly inferable by a learner who knows both words. Cross-linguistically similar formations exist (e.g., 'ardilla voladora'), and the minor technical distinction that these animals glide rather than sustain powered flight does not prevent comprehension at B1.
Etymology
The name flying squirrel comes from how this small tree animal moves. It stretches a skin flap between its front and back legs and glides from branch to branch, so people called the squirrel 'flying' even though it does not really fly.