Adjacent Words

capybara definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: pig-sized tailless South American amphibious rodent with partly webbed feet; largest living rodent [syn: capybara, capibara, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Portuguese capibara, capivara, alteration of capiiuara, from Tupi kapi?iwara, from kapí?i grass, brush + -wara eater Date: 1774 a tailless semiaquatic South and Central American rodent (Hydrochaerus hydrochaeris) often exceeding four feet (1.2 meters) in length

Britannica Concise

Either of two species (genus Hydrochoerus) of semiaquatic Central and S. Amer. rodents sometimes classified with the cavy and guinea pig. Capybaras are the largest living rodents, growing as large as 50 in. (1.25 m) long and weighing 110 lbs (50 kg) or more. They are sparsely haired and brownish, with a blunt snout, short legs, small ears, and almost no tail. Capybaras are shy and associate in groups along the banks of lakes and rivers. Herbivores, they can become pests when they eat cultivated melons, grain, and squash. They swim and dive readily and commonly enter water to elude predators.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a very large semi-aquatic rodent, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, native to S. America. Etymology: Tupi

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Capybara Ca`py*ba"ra, n. [Sp. capibara, fr. the native name.] (Zo["o]l.) A large South American rodent (Hydroch[ae]rus capybara) Living on the margins of lakes and rivers. It is the largest extant rodent, being about three feet long, and half that in height. It somewhat resembles the Guinea pig, to which it is related; -- called also cabiai and water hog.