redback vole
- noun
:
vole redback
- During our hike, we encountered several redback voles darting between the rocks.
Examples
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In the forest, I spotted a redback vole scurrying under the fallen leaves.
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Recently, there have been reports of large local populations of redback voles, so their good food fortunes continue.
Blog text (18) -
The researcher recorded the behavior of redback voles in their natural habitat.
Synonyms
11
6.3
A small animal like a mouse with a short tail that lives in fields and meadows
A small animal like a mouse with a red back that lives in mountains of Europe, Asia, and North America
A group of small mouse-like animals with red backs that live in northern forests
Surface Forms
Morphology
redback + vole
This is a descriptive compound: 'vole' is a known rodent and 'redback' can be parsed as 'red' + 'back' (a red or reddish band on the back), so the overall meaning is directly derivable from its constituents. Color + body-part compounds to describe animals are cross-linguistically common and follow regular English compounding, making it understandable to a B1 learner who knows the component words.
Etymology
Redback vole: The name redback vole comes from the animal's fur — this small vole often has a clear reddish band along its back. People joined red and back to describe it, so the name now means 'a small vole with a reddish stripe on its back'.