Illustration of porcupine
porcupine
noun
por·cu·pine ˈpȯr-kyə-ˌpīn 
plural porcupines also porcupine
: any of various relatively large slow-moving chiefly herbivorous rodents having sharp erectile spines mingled with the hair and constituting an Old World terrestrial family (Hystricidae) and a New World chiefly arboreal family (Erethizontidae)
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The persistent deployments of NATO troops and weapons to countries along Russia’s flank is a strategy Western military leaders call the porcupine defense. 
Karoun Demirjian, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2022 As with birds, sometimes there was only evidence of a strike, as when mechanics pulled porcupine quills from the wheels of a jetliner at Ted Stevens International Airport in 2013. David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Aug. 2022 After careful deliberation, one of the first images that OpenAI prompted was a doughnut made of porcupine quills. Laura Lane, The New Yorker, 4 July 2022 This will anchor the porcupine body and stop it from rolling around. Charlyne Mattox, Country Living, 15 July 2022 The baby porcupine is the third offspring born to Prickles and her mate Shadow. Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE.com, 30 June 2022 The defense of the porcupine’s quills, which can rip through the predator’s mouth and throat, is the deterrent that protects the small creature in the violent woods. Roger Wicker, WSJ, 4 May 2022 But the porcupine grew to an unimaginable size and transformed into a brown bear clawing its way out of the snow. Caroline Van Hemert, Outside Online, 11 Aug. 2021 Any wolf has the ability to kill a gentle porcupine. Roger Wicker, WSJ, 4 May 2022 See More
Karoun Demirjian, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2022 As with birds, sometimes there was only evidence of a strike, as when mechanics pulled porcupine quills from the wheels of a jetliner at Ted Stevens International Airport in 2013. David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Aug. 2022 After careful deliberation, one of the first images that OpenAI prompted was a doughnut made of porcupine quills. Laura Lane, The New Yorker, 4 July 2022 This will anchor the porcupine body and stop it from rolling around. Charlyne Mattox, Country Living, 15 July 2022 The baby porcupine is the third offspring born to Prickles and her mate Shadow. Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE.com, 30 June 2022 The defense of the porcupine’s quills, which can rip through the predator’s mouth and throat, is the deterrent that protects the small creature in the violent woods. Roger Wicker, WSJ, 4 May 2022 But the porcupine grew to an unimaginable size and transformed into a brown bear clawing its way out of the snow. Caroline Van Hemert, Outside Online, 11 Aug. 2021 Any wolf has the ability to kill a gentle porcupine. Roger Wicker, WSJ, 4 May 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English porke despyne, from Middle French porc espin, from Old Italian porcospino, from Latin porcus pig + spina spine, prickle
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing porcupine
Kids Definition
porcupine
noun
por·cu·pine ˈpȯr-kyə-ˌpīn
: a gnawing slow-moving animal that is a large rodent and has stiff sharp quills among its hairs
Geographical Definition
Porcupine
geographical name
river 448 miles (721 kilometers) long in northern Yukon and northeastern Alaska flowing north and west into the Yukon River