water shrew
- noun
- /ˈwɔːtər ʃruː/
- Specialized
:
musaraña de agua
- Water shrews are known for their ability to dive and swim quickly in search of small prey.
- star-nosed water shrew
- mammals, including water shrews
- North American water shrew
Examples
-
Not an arm's reach away from where Dail knelt, a tiny grey water shrew left the tall grasses at the edge of the misty pool and rose up on its hind legs, blinking rapidly in the new light of the day.
Fiction book (1992) -
The water shrew is a small mammal that thrives in the fast-flowing streams of the forest.
-
During my hike, I saw a water shrew searching for food along the riverbank.
Synonyms
A small animal like a mouse that lives in streams and wetlands and eats insects
A small mammal with dense fur that lives in streams and hunts aquatic insects
A small shrew that lives in and near water in North America
A small animal like a mouse that lives near fresh water in Europe and eats insects
A small water shrew with a pointed snout that lives near streams and eats water insects
A group of small animals that live near water and swim, native to Europe and Asia
A small mammal that lives in and near water in southern Europe and northwest Africa
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a semiaquatic shrew' is directly and compositionally derived from 'water' (habitat/association) + 'shrew' (the small mammal), following a common noun+noun compounding pattern. This is a literal, non-idiomatic habitat description that a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer, and similar formations occur across languages.
Etymology
Water shrew names a small shrew that lives and hunts by fast streams. The name comes from the simple picture of a shrew in the water, so it means 'a shrew that swims' today.
