hedgehogn.
/ˈhɛdʒhɒɡ/ 1. An insectivorous quadruped of the genus Erinaceus, armed above with innumerable spines, and able to roll itself up into a ball with these bristling in every direction; an urchin.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Erinaceidae (hedgehog)
ilc897
iles pil?c1225
irchepilc1290
irchinc1290
hurcheonc1325
urchina1340
thorn-hog1340
hedgehoga1450
herisson?1590
land-urchin1603
hedge-piga1616
hotchi-witchi1843
porcupine1847
furze-pig1865
gypsies' pig1928
tiggy1938
a1450 Fysshynge wyth Angle (1883) 2 Wen he wenyt hyt be a hare ful often hit ys a heyghoge [1496 hegge hogge].
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxxiv. C There shall the hedghogge buylde, digge, be there at home.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 78 Thou art..not vnlike vnto the Hedgehogge, who euermore lodgeth in the thornes, bicause hee himselfe is full of prickells.
1631 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. (ed. 2) (2nd state) §cxxiii The Foxe knowes many pretty wiles, but the hedghogge knowes one great one.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Aylmer's Field in Enoch Arden, etc. 95 The hedgehog underneath the plantain bores.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 Feb. 1/2 You need a tolerably thick skin when you go to bed with a hedgehog.
2. Applied to various animals armed with spines, as (a) the tenrec of Madagascar; (b) the porcupine anteater of Australia; (c) sea-hedgehog, the porcupine fish Diodon hystrix; also the sea urchin.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Diodontidae (porcupine-fishes) > diodon hystrix (porcupine-fish)
sea-hedgehog1598
porcupine fish1681
sea-porcupine1681
urchin fish1773
porcupine1859
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Echinodermata > [noun] > subphylum Eleutherozoa > class Echinoidea > member of (sea-urchin)
echinusc1374
urchin fish1566
ruffe1591
sea-hedgehog1598
urchin1601
sea urchin1605
sea-bear1611
sea-chestnut1613
sea-thistle1661
sea-apple1666
sea-egg1666
button-fish1668
sea-button1668
urchin-worm1668
whore's egg1674
sea-shilling1713
echinite1750
echinid1835
pancake1843
echinoid1864
oursin1914
kina1960
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Hechinometri, a kinde of sea hedgehog.
1737 J. Ozell tr. F. Rabelais Wks. I. 350 The Shells of Sea-hedge-hogs are..call'd Coquecigruës.
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 337 The Urchin-Fish or Sea Hedgehog is a good example of the genus Diodon, or Two-toothed fishes..remarkable for the tremendous array of spiny points which it bears on its skin.
3. A name for prickly seed-vessels or burs borne by plants, and for the plants which bear them, e.g. Ranunculus arvensis, Medicago echinus ( M. intertexta), Echinaria capitata.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]
heatha700
beeworteOE
leversc725
springworteOE
clotec1000
halswortc1000
sengreenc1000
bottle?a1200
bird's-tonguea1300
bloodworta1300
faverolea1300
vetchc1300
pimpernel1378
oniona1398
bird's nest?a1425
adder's grassc1450
cockheada1500
ambrosia1525
fleawort1548
son before the father1552
crow-toe1562
basil1578
bird's-foot1578
bloodroot1578
throatwort1578
phalangium1608
yew1653
chalcedon1664
dittany1676
bleeding heart1691
felon-wort1706
hedgehog1712
land caltrops1727
old man's beard1731
loosestrife1760
Solomon's seal1760
fireweed1764
desert rose1792
star of Bethlehem1793
hen and chickens1794
Aaron's beard1820
felon-grass1824
arrowroot1835
snake-root1856
firebush1858
tick-seed1860
bird's eye1863
burning bush1866
rat-tail1871
lamb's earsa1876
lamb's tongue plant1882
tar-weed1884
Tom Thumb1886
parrotbeak1890
stinkweed1932
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > seed-vessel or pericarp > [noun] > bur or prickly seed vessel
burc1330
buzz1612
hedgehog1712
sweetheart1750
tuzzy-muzzy1842
1712 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 387 Hard Bur Hedgehogs..The Fruit of this resembles our Xanthium or Lesser Burdock.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxv. 371 Hedgehogs, whose legumes are closely armed with long spines pointing every way.
1864 H. Trimen in Jrnl. Bot., Brit. & Foreign 2 79 R[anunculus] Arvensis..called ‘Hedgehogs’ (I suppose from its muricated fruit) by the country people.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 572/2 Hedgehog, Medicago intertexta.
1880 R. Jefferies Round about Great Estate 132 The curious prickly seed-vessels of the corn buttercup—the ‘hedgehog’—whose spines, however, will not scratch the softest skin.
4. Applied to other things likened to a hedgehog:† a. A disease of sheep. Obsolete. † b. A kind of military firework. Obsolete.
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c. (See quot. 1794.)
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d. A kind of vagrant rabbit.
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e. A kind of dredging-machine.
f. A dish in cookery.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > other prepared foods or dishes > [noun]
mawmenny1381
browet Saracen?c1390
corat?c1390
lete lardes?c1390
lete lory?c1390
burseuc1400
lorey14..
Jack of Doverc1405
bukenadea1425
nesebeka1425
mosy?c1425
blaundsore1430
fauntemperec1430
irchinc1430
white sorréc1430
entraila1450
pasteladea1450
prenadec1450
fignadea1475
frianc1500
profiterole?1521
slampamp1593
flap-dragon1604
eel-cake1653
Lombard1657
hedgehog1723
bird's nest1769
dope18..
negro-pota1818
jug jug1877
King Henry's shoestrings1887
foam-omelet1892
crème1901
farofa1922
chilaquiles1938
metagee1957
Kiev1967
pani puri1969
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 615 Of the warts, and cratches of Sheepe. This disease is called by the vulgar sheapheardes the Hedghog.
1672 tr. Compleat Gunner iii. xv. 13 in T. Venn Mil. & Maritine Discipline iii To make Hedg-hogs, or balls, you must fill them with the same receipts you do your Arrows and Pikes [etc.].
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Q5 (heading) To make a hedge-hog.
1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. Q5 Almonds,..Eggs,..Cream,..Butter..stirring, till it is stiff enough to be made in the Form of a Hedge-hog; then stick it full of blanch'd Almonds,..like the Bristles of a Hedge-hog.
1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages II. (Gloss.) 223 Hedge Hog, a leather stuck full of nails to buckle on the pole with the points upwards, to prevent the horses gnawing it.
1838 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 391/1 (title) A machine called a hedgehog for removing mud etc. in rivers.
1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xx. 537 An Apple Hedge-Hog, or Suédoise. This dish is formed of apples, pared, cored without being divided, and stewed tolerably tender in a light syrup.
1846 Peter Parley's Ann. 325 The hedgehog is a sort of vagabond rabbit.
1856 S. C. Brees Terms & Rules Archit. Hedgehog, a machine for removing mud and silt from rivers and streams. It is somewhat similar in shape to a road or garden roller, consisting of a wheel revolving on an axle, to which drawing shafts are fixed. Timber stocks are projected from the cylinder with iron spades bolted thereto, which act upon the bottom of the river, clearing away all obstructions.
1960 Good Housek. Cook. Bk. 405/2 Hedgehog cake.
g. A fortified position ‘bristling’ with guns pointing in all directions.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > strong point or fortified position > bristling with guns
hedgehog1942
1942 Daily Tel. 22 May 1/2 The German infantry has been used to being led by tanks and, throughout the past winter, to holding strong points called ‘hedgehogs’.
1943 Times 16 Dec. 4/1 The Germans fought with the utmost ferocity for their old ‘hedgehog’ position.
1952 Time 29 Sept. 18/1 Holdfast's strategists had developed their plan after studying German tactics in the long retreat from Stalingrad (in which the Germans first used the word ‘hedgehog’).
h. (See quot. 1947.)
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > operations or manoeuvres > [noun] > salvo of depth charges
hedgehog1947
1947 Jane's Fighting Ships 1946–7 6 Anti-Submarine Weapons..include the ‘hedgehog’, a salvo of 24 depth charges each containing 32 lb. of explosive fired ahead of a ship from a spigot mortar.
1968 D. McLachlan Room 39 xiv. 329 The dangers of underwater hedgehogs to the Mulberry floating harbours [had not] been closely examined.
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the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > discourtesy > [noun] > inconsiderateness > person
hedgehog1597
hog1888
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. ii. 102 Doest grant me hedghogge . View more context for this quotation
1605 Hist. Tryall Cheualry sig. E1v My name, sir, is Bow wow. Bow. S'hart, what a name's that! the Hedge-hog mocks vs.
1660 Mrs. Rump 2 Thou Dam'd Hedgehock.
Compounds
C1. attributive passing into adj.: Of, belonging to, or resembling a hedgehog.
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1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. vii. 108 Vnlike to those Hedge-hogge holy-ones, whose sharpe censures..pierce thorow all those who conuerse with them.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 99 Animals of the Hedge-hog kind.
1891 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 461 The tilting, hedgehog, ransom age.
1930 Engineering 14 Nov. 615/2 An elevator..delivered the clay into small hedgehog rollers.
C2. General combinations, as hedgehog-hooked adj., hedgehog-hunting, hedgehog-like adj. or adv.
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1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) ii. iv. 3 His hands and arms, and bosom bristled were (Most Hedg-hog-like) with wyer insteed of haire.
1678 Narr. Murder Godfrey 4 There had been several Soldiers thereabout..a Hedghog-hunting.
1792 J. Wolcot Ode to Acad. Chair in Wks. (1812) III. 48 Most hedgehog-like thou bristlest up my hair.
1793 T. Martyn Lang. Bot. sig. I7v Hedge-hog-hooked, echinato-uncinata spica. A spike beset with prickles, which are hooked at the end.
C3. Special combinations.
hedgehog cactus n. a plant of the genus Echinocactus, globular and spiny.
hedgehog caterpillar n. U.S. see quot.
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1872 C. V. Riley Rep. Noxious Insects 143 The larva of this insect (Arctia Isabella)..is familiarly known by the name of the Hedgehog Caterpillar. It is thickly covered with stiff black hairs on each end and with reddish hairs on the middle of the body.
hedgehog converter n.
hedgehog crystal n. (see quot.).
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1886 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Hedgehog-crystals, the globular masses of sodium urate found in the urine, which are provided with points or prickles.
hedgehog fish n. = porcupine fish n. at porcupine n. Compounds 2.
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1851 P. H. Gosse Naturalist's Sojourn Jamaica 244 Specimens of the Hedgehog-fish, or Sea Porcupine (Diodon), are frequently carried home by mariners.
hedgehog fruit n. the prickly fruit of an Australian tree, Echinocarpus Australis; also the tree itself.
hedgehog fungus n. = hedgehog mushroom n.
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1887 C. F. Holder Living Lights 138 The chantarelle and the hedgehog fungus are esteemed by many.
hedgehog gooseberry n. a variety of gooseberry covered with stiff hairs.
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1676 J. Worlidge Vinetum Britannicum 182 The Hedgehog-gooseberry is a large Fruit, well tasted, and very hairy.
hedgehog grass n. †(a) a kind of sedge ( Carex flava) having prickly fruit; (b) name of various grasses of which the spikelets form burs, esp. Cenchrus tribuloides of North America.
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1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 15 Hedgehog grasse hath broade, long and stiffe flaggie leaues... And at the top of euerie stalke groweth certaine round and pricking knobs, fashioned like an Hedgehog.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Hedgehog Grass, Panicum stagninum.
hedgehog holly n. a variety of holly with spines on the surface of the leaves (Miller Gard. Dict. 1724).
hedgehog liquorice n. name for Glycyrrhiza echinata, an Italian plant from which liquorice is made ( Gerarde's Herbal 1633).
hedgehog medick n. a species of Medicago with prickly pods, as M. Echinus ( M. intertexta), M. maculata.
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1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. II. 92 The Hedge-Hog Medick (Medicago intertexta).
hedgehog mushroom n. an edible fungus of the genus Hydnum, having prickly hymenium.
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1854 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) Hedgehog Mushroom, common name for the Hydnum erinaceum.
hedgehog parsley n. a name for burparsley, Caucalis daucoides.
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1879 R. C. A. Prior On Pop. Names Brit. Plants (ed. 3) Hedgehog parsley, from its prickly burs, Caucalis daucoides.
hedgehog plant n. = sense 3.
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1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Hedge-hog-plant, Anthyllis erinacea and Echinaria capitata.
hedgehog pudding n. a pudding stuck over with blanched almonds ( Cassell's Dict. Cookery).
hedgehog rat n. a rodent of the subfamily Echinomyinæ (see quot.).
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1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 89 The Echinomyinæ, or Hedge-hog Rats, as they may be collectively termed..the pelage is usually harsh, or bristly, or even mixed with spines.
hedgehog shell n. the shell of Murex erinaceus, having prickly projections.
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1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. I. 370 The British Woodcock or Hedgehog Shell..is a native of our seas..much smaller than the thorny woodcock.
hedgehog soup n. (see quot., and cf. hedgehog pudding n.).
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1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper i. 8 Blanch a few Jordan Almonds..stick them round the Edge of the Rolls slantway, then stick them all over the Top of the Rolls..when dished up pour the Soup upon the Rolls... Some French Cooks give this soup the Name of Hedge-hog Soup.
hedgehog stone n. popular name of a brown iron ore occurring in rock crystals.
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1849 J. Nicol Man. Mineral. 403 [Goethite] occurs enclosed in rock crystal..the Stachelschweinstein, Hedgehogstone.
hedgehog thistle n. = hedgehog cactus n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > other cacti
hedgehog thistle1597
Opuntia1601
mescal1709
Barbados gooseberry1756
night-flowering cereus1789
vygebosch1795
night-blooming cereus1799
rhipsalis1819
pigface1830
window plant1838
old man cactus1845
cholla1846
fish-hook cactus1846
spleenwort1846
epiphyllum1858
old man's head1858
rainbow cactus1860
green snake1864
torchwood1866
queen of the night1870
vingerpol1875
nipple cactus1876
niggerhead1877
rat's tail cactus1878
rat-tail cactus1878
Christmas cactus1880
barrel cactus1881
peyote1885
mistletoe cactus1889
schlumbergera1898
pincushion1940
opuntioid1944
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 1013 Of the Melon, or Hedgehogge Thistle.
1854 C. Knight Eng. Cycl.: Nat. Hist. II. 466 Echinocactus, a genus of..Cactaceæ..known by the name of Hedgehog Thistles.
hedgehog transformer n. a type of transformer (no longer used) with open magnetic circuit, in which the ends of the iron wire core assume a bristling appearance.
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1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 117/2 The wire..used..to form the core of his ‘hedgehog’ transformers.
hedgehog trefoil n. ? = hedgehog medick n.
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1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Hedge-hog-Trefoil, a kind of Herb.
hedgehog wheat n. a race of hardy dwarf wheats, grown in mountainous districts of Europe, having dense short ears and awned glumes.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant
spelta1000
farc1420
ador?1440
flaxen wheat?1523
Peak-wheat?1523
red wheat?1523
white wheat?1523
duck-bill wheat1553
zea1562
alica1565
buck1577
amelcorn1578
horse-flower1578
tiphe1578
pollard1580
rivet1580
Saracen's corn1585
French wheat1593
Lammas-wheat1594
starch corn1597
St. Peter's corn1597
frumenty1600
secourgeon1600
polwheat1601
duck-wheat1611
kidneys of wheat1611
ograve wheat1616
soft wheat1640
cone-wheat1677
Lammas1677
Poland wheat1686
Saracen corn1687
pole rivet1707
Smyrna wheat1735
hard wheat1757
hen corn1765
velvet wheat1771
white straw1771
nonpareil1805
thick-set wheat1808
cone1826
farro1828
Polish wheat1832
velvet-ear wheat1837
sarrasin1840
mummy wheat1842
snowdrop1844
Red Fife1857
flint-wheat1859
dinkel1866
thick-set1875
spring1884
macaroni wheat1901
einkorn1904
marquis1906
durum1908
emmer1908
hedgehog wheat1909
speltoid1939
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Hedgehog wheat.
1921 J. Percival Wheat Plant 307 Club, Dwarf, Cluster or Hedgehog Wheat, Triticum compactum.
Draft additions May 2001
Genetics and Embryology. [With allusion to the bristly shape of Drosophila mutants at this locus.] A gene originally identified in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster which encodes a protein involved in the determination of segmental polarity and cell-to-cell signalling during embryonic development and metamorphosis; the protein encoded by this gene. Also (in full sonic hedgehog): the homologous gene or protein in various vertebrate species.The gene is commonly denoted by the word in italics, the protein by the word in roman and with a capital initial.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [noun] > gene > types of gene
sex determinant1902
sex determiner1909
inhibitor1911
multiple factor1912
modifier1915
autosomal dominant1919
autosomal recessive1919
scute1923
gene1925
suppressor1928
rate gene1932
dominigene1938
buffer1939
polygene1941
switch gene1942
mutator1943
oligogene1943
sickle cell gene1946
supergene1949
ob1950
obese1950
regulator1960
regulator gene1960
regulatory gene1960
enhancer1967
oncogene1969
virogene1969
hedgehog1980
1980 C. Nüsslein-Volhard & E. Wieschaus in Nature 30 Oct. 796/1 Six such loci have been identified. Three loci, for fused, wingless..and cubitus interruptus, were previously known whereas gooseberry, hedgehog and patch are new.
1993 R. Riddle et al. in Cell 75 1401/1 We have isolated a vertebrate gene, Sonic hedgehog, related to the Drosophila segment polarity gene hedgehog,..that is capable of polarizing limbs in grafting experiments.
1997 New Scientist 5 Apr. 24/1 Injections of a protein called sonic hedgehog into the brains of people with Parkinson's disease may be able to restore the number of dopamine-producing cells in the brain.
1998 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95 9937/1 One possibility is that Cyclops activity may be required in addition to Hedgehog signaling to antagonize dorsalizing factors.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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