northern flying squirrel
- noun
- /ˈnɔrðərn ˈflaɪɪŋ ˈskwɪrəl/
- US
:
ardilla voladora del norte
- During the evening, the northern flying squirrel emerged from its nest to glide in search of food.
Examples
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While hiking in Canada, we spotted a northern flying squirrel soaring between the branches.
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The northern flying squirrel glides effortlessly through the trees in its forest habitat.
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So like the northern flying squirrel in the lower peninsula of Michigan, it can't get anywhere.
Synonyms
1
3.9
A small night animal that glides between trees using skin flaps
Large flying squirrel active at night that lives in northern forests in Canada and the northern United States
A small squirrel active at night that glides between trees using a skin flap
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is compositionally built: 'northern' specifies geographic location, 'flying' describes the mode of locomotion, and 'squirrel' names the animal, so a learner who knows the constituents will infer it is a squirrel from the north that moves through the air (glides). The slight technicality that these squirrels glide rather than truly 'fly' does not obscure the basic, cross-linguistically common compositional meaning, making it readily understandable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The name northern flying squirrel comes from a simple image: a squirrel that lives in the north and seems to fly. It has a flap of skin between its legs that lets it 'glide' from tree to tree, so people used flying to describe its movement and northern to show where it lives.