blacktail prairie dog
- noun
- /ˈblækˌteɪl ˈprɛəri dɔg/
- US
:
perro de pradera de cola negra
- The blacktail prairie dog is known for its distinctive black-tipped tail.
Examples
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During our hike, we spotted a colony of blacktail prairie dogs playing in the grass.
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Biologists are studying the social behavior of blacktail prairie dogs in their natural habitat.
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Too, this unique region also hosts an impressive array of other wildlife, including blacktail prairie dogs, gray foxes, and piglike javelinas.
Academic text (2002)
Synonyms
8
4.7
A small animal that digs tunnels and lives in large groups on North American grasslands
A small prairie dog that lives in North American grasslands with a black-tipped tail
Surface Forms
Morphology
blacktail + prairie + dog
The noun phrase is fully compositional: 'blacktail' can be parsed as 'black' + 'tail' modifying 'prairie dog', and 'prairie dog' is a transparent compound (a dog/rodent associated with the prairie). A B1 learner who knows 'black', 'tail', 'prairie' and 'dog' can infer this refers to a prairie dog with a black-tipped tail, so the meaning is predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Blacktail prairie dog comes from the animal's look and home: the small animal called a prairie dog has a dark, black tip on its tail and lives on open grassland. So the name simply means 'a prairie dog with a black tail'.