Synonyms

porcupine

American

[pawr-kyuh-pahyn] / ˈpɔr kyəˌpaɪn /

noun

any of several rodents covered with stiff, sharp, erectile spines or quills, as Erethizon dorsatum of North America.

porcupine British

/ ˈpɔːkjʊˌpaɪn /

noun

any of various large hystricomorph rodents of the families Hystricidae, of Africa, Indonesia, S Europe, and S Asia, and Erethizontidae, of the New World. All species have a body covering of protective spines or quills

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

porcupinish adjective
porcupiny adjective

Etymology

Origin of porcupine

1375–1425; late Middle English porcupyne, variant of porcapyne; replacing porke despyne < Middle French porc d'espine thorny pig. See pork, spine

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.

According to reports at the time there were some clues, including the discovery of straw bedding with porcupine quills in it.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2025

DNA evidence suggests North America's sole porcupine belongs to a group that originated 10 million years ago, but fossils seem to tell a different story.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2024

A new study published in the journal Current Biology claims to have reconciled the dispute, thanks to an exceptionally rare, nearly complete porcupine skeleton discovered in Florida.

From Science Daily • May 28, 2024

Whether you’re a pedestrian or a porcupine, you live in the thrall of roads.

From Slate • May 25, 2024

“I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?”

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023