brush-tailed porcupine
- noun
- Specialized
:
puercoespín de cola cepillo
- The brush-tailed porcupine is known for its distinctive tail bristles which create a rattling noise when shaken.
Examples
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Unlike other porcupines, the brush-tailed porcupine has unique beaded bristles on its tail.
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Researchers observed several brush-tailed porcupines searching for food at night in the rainforest.
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Look! A brush-tailed porcupine!
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I saw a brush-tailed porcupine in the forest.
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Researchers observed several brush-tailed porcupines searching for food at night in the rainforest.
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The brush-tailed porcupine is known for its distinctive tail bristles which create a rattling noise when shaken.
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Unlike other porcupines, the brush-tailed porcupine has unique beaded bristles on its tail.
Synonyms
28
2.8
A large animal with sharp quills on its back that protect it
A large animal with sharp spines and a brush of stiff hairs at the end of its tail
Surface Forms
Morphology
brush-tailed + porcupine
The meaning 'a porcupine with a brush-like tail' is directly derivable from the constituents: 'brush' (a tuft of bristles) + 'tail' and the adjectival '-tailed' pattern found in many animal names (e.g., long-tailed, short-tailed). A B1 learner who knows these words can readily infer that this porcupine has a brush-like tail; the formation is compositional and cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
Brush-tailed porcupine gets its name from the animal's tail: a tuft of stiff, beaded bristles that look like a brush and make a rattling sound when the animal shakes it. So the name simply describes a porcupine with a brush-like tail.