nutria
Americannoun
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the coypu.
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the fur of the coypu, resembling beaver, used for making coats, hats, suit trimmings, etc.
noun
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another name for the coypu, used esp to refer to its fur
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a brown colour with a grey tinge
Etymology
Origin of nutria
1810–20, < Spanish: otter, variant of lutria < Medieval Latin, for Latin lutra
Explanation
The nutria is a large South American rodent that resembles a beaver with a long, hairless tail. In many parts of the U.S., nutria are considered a destructive invasive species. Though nutria are aquatic, they are definitely not otters; nevertheless, nutria means "otter" in Spanish. In several other languages, the word for nutria means "rat beaver," a good basic description of this rodent's appearance. Nutria were introduced to the U.S. by 19th-century fur traders. By the 1940s, the fur market had collapsed and thousands of nutria were released into the wild. They have no native North American predators and are destructive to many ecosystems, particularly marshes and wetlands.
Vocabulary lists containing nutria
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The study, released Tuesday by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, found that the state’s nutria populations share a close genetic match to nutria from Oregon.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
Since 2017, the Department of Fish and Wildlife has removed 7,841 nutrias by trapping them or releasing other sterilized nutria back into the wild with tracking devices.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
They appear by surprise in towns and on beaches, cause accidents, and scare the local fishermen, nutria, manatees and capybaras.
From Washington Post • Apr. 20, 2023
But after the response, the agency provided special conditions allowing the family to keep the nutria as a pet within the law, according to the newspaper.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 18, 2023
I watched him eat a grilled nutria once at my uncle Henry’s annual game cookout, and I couldn’t even taste that thing.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
