kiore

/ ˈkiːɒrɛ /

noun

1. another name for Māori rat

Word History and Origins

Origin of kiore¹

Māori

Example Sentences

In their ships, the Maori also brought with them Pacific rats, or kiore.

From The New Yorker

The Maori intended to eat the kiore, but the rats multiplied and spread far faster than they could be consumed, along the way feasting on weta, young tuatara, and the eggs of ground-nesting birds.

From The New Yorker

The forest falls before the axe of the Pakeha; the Maori birds have flown away, and strange Pakeha birds fly above the new cornfields; the Pakeha rat has chased away the kiore; there are Pakeha boats on our waters, Pakeha fish in our rivers.

From Project Gutenberg