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Glite Dictionary
pouched mole

pouched mole

9.9
A small Australian burrowing animal with a pouch for its young that looks like a mole
  • noun
  • /paʊtʃt moʊl/
  • Australian
translation icon : topo marsupial
  • Although it looks like a true mole, the pouched mole is actually a marsupial with a pouch for its young.

Examples

  • The pouched mole spends most of its life underground in the sandy deserts of Australia.

  • Researchers observed a pouched mole emerging briefly at dusk before digging a new tunnel.

  • The pouched mole is a fascinating creature.

  • Did you see the pouched moles at the zoo?

  • Researchers observed a pouched mole emerging briefly at dusk before digging a new tunnel.

  • The pouched mole spends most of its life underground in the sandy deserts of Australia.

  • Although it looks like a true mole, the pouched mole is actually a marsupial with a pouch for its young.

Synonyms

marsupial mole
vspouched mole
  • Australian
9.7

A small Australian animal that lives underground and carries its babies in a pouch

has identical meaning but uses an alternative common name instead

Surface Forms

pouched mole singular
pouched moles plural

Morphology

pouched + mole

The noun is compositionally built: 'pouched' (having a pouch) + 'mole' (small burrowing mammal) yields a mole that has a pouch, so the defined meaning is directly inferable from the parts. This straightforward modifier+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Pouched mole combines pouched (having a pouch for its young) and mole (a small digging animal), so imagine a mole with a pouch carrying babies as it lives underground. That's why the name means 'a small burrowing marsupial of Australia'.