American pika

noun

: a gray to brown, diurnal pika (Ochotona princeps) that inhabits rocky, mountainous slopes of the western U.S. and southwestern Canada and resembles a guinea pig or large mouse

The American pika is a small furry mammal resembling a mouse that lives in the mountains throughout the West, including the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascades. It has been voted one of the three "cutest animals" in North America.

—M. David Stirling, Washington Times, 15 Mar. 2009

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above

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