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Webster's New World College Dictionary » hedgehog
hedgehog
hedgehog definition
hedge·hog (hej′hôg′)
noun
- any of several small insectivores (family Erinaceidae) of the Old World, with a shaggy coat and sharp spines on the back, which bristle and form a defense when the animal curls up
- ☆ the American porcupine
Etymology: see fox ()
a person regarded as being of a type that tends to see things in terms of a single, overarching viewpoint or philosophy- Mil.
- any of several defensive obstacles
- any of a series of defensive fortifications capable of continued resistance after being encircled
Etymology: hedge + hog: prob. from living in hedgerows and from the hoglike snout
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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