GROUND SQUIRREL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ground squirrel mean? 

• GROUND SQUIRREL (noun)
  The noun GROUND SQUIRREL has 2 senses:

1. small striped semiterrestrial eastern American squirrel with cheek pouches

2. any of various terrestrial burrowing rodents of Old and New Worlds; often destroy crops

  Familiarity information: GROUND SQUIRREL used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GROUND SQUIRREL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small striped semiterrestrial eastern American squirrel with cheek pouches

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

eastern chipmunk; ground squirrel; hackee; striped squirrel; Tamias striatus

Hypernyms ("ground squirrel" is a kind of...):

squirrel (a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail)

Holonyms ("ground squirrel" is a member of...):

genus Tamias; Tamias (chipmunks of eastern North America)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various terrestrial burrowing rodents of Old and New Worlds; often destroy crops

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

gopher; ground squirrel; spermophile

Hypernyms ("ground squirrel" is a kind of...):

squirrel (a kind of arboreal rodent having a long bushy tail)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ground squirrel"):

antelope chipmunk; antelope squirrel; Citellus leucurus; whitetail antelope squirrel (small ground squirrel of western United States)

Citellus lateralis; mantled ground squirrel (common black-striped reddish-brown ground squirrel of western North America; resembles a large chipmunk)

Citellus citellus; souslik; suslik (rather large central Eurasian ground squirrel)

Citellus richardsoni; flickertail; Richardson ground squirrel (of sagebrush and grassland areas of western United States and Canada)

Citellus variegatus; rock squirrel (large grey ground squirrel of rocky areas of the southwestern United States)

Arctic ground squirrel; Citellus parryi; parka squirrel (large ground squirrel of the North American far north)

Holonyms ("ground squirrel" is a member of...):

Citellus; genus Citellus; genus Spermophilus; Spermophilus (typical ground squirrels)

 Context examples 

They took cells from a newborn ground squirrel and reprogrammed them to become stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells capable of becoming any type of tissue in the body.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

Recently, researchers found that a cellular process called SUMOylation goes into overdrive in a certain species of ground squirrel during hibernation.

(Hibernating ground squirrels provide clues to new stroke treatments, National Institutes of Health)

Next, they compared gene expression of stem cell-derived neurons from ground squirrels and humans.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

In a series of experiments, the research team compared cells from non-hibernators to cells from the ground squirrel to determine differences in their response to cold.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

Researchers at the National Eye Institute have discovered cellular mechanisms that help the 13-lined ground squirrel survive hibernation.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

By comparison, ground squirrel ROS levels remained relatively low and their microtubules remained intact.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

During hibernation, the 13-lined ground squirrel endures near freezing temperatures, dramatically slowing its heart rate and respiration.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

They found that in ground squirrel neurons the microtubule cytoskeleton remains intact while it deteriorates in the neurons of humans and other non-hibernating animals, including rats.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)