Skip to main content
hedgehog

hedgehog

142 1.0
A small animal active at night with short sharp spines that rolls into a ball when scared
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛdʒhɔg/
translation icon : erizo
  • Once he woke to hear a hedgehog puffing and snuffling near his feet.
  • like a hedgehog
  • hedgehog skin

As night falls, owls, bats, and hedgehogs come out to hunt.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • A European hedgehog would be brown all over without any white, but they're both delicious.

  • He's just an old hedgehog!

  • She also has this hedgehog, which she really loves as well.

  • So, Todd, how does one get into the hedgehog business anyway?

  • Oh, look, there's Mr. Hedgehog.

  • A dirty little hedgehog eating berries and struggling to survive?

  • As night falls, owls, bats, and hedgehogs come out to hunt.

  • Under the high hedge, a hedgehog rolled itself into a prickly ball at Oscar's approach.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • There's a hedgehog in this garden who's unusually friendly and relaxed.

  • As night falls, hedgehogs come out to forage for insects and fruit.

Synonyms

Erinaceus
vshedgehog
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of small animals with sharp spines, like European hedgehogs

is the common animal description rather than the scientific genus term

Compounds

hedgehog cactus
  • Specialized
8.6

A round desert plant with many sharp spines like a hedgehog

hedgehog cereus
  • Specialized
9.9

A cactus with many sharp spines and bright flowers

Surface Forms

hedgehog singular
hedgehogs plural

Morphology

hedgehog = hedge + hog (semi-transparent) = hedge + hog

The components 'hedge' and 'hog' are identifiable, but the animal's meaning ('small spiny mammal') is not fully derivable from 'hog' (pig), so the relation may mislead learners.

Etymology

Hedgehog comes from old parts hedge and hog, meaning 'hedge' and 'hog'. People called it this because it lives near hedges and its pointy nose looked a bit like a pig's, so the name fits the small spiny animal.