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# porcupine

noun (a porcupine, porcupines)

«porcupine» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A porcupine is a large rodent covered in long sharp spines called quills, which protect it from enemies. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#m1)
2. There are two main groups: tree-climbing porcupines in the Americas and ground-living ones in Africa, Asia and southern Europe. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science lessons about animal adaptations, the porcupine shows defence: its quills come out easily and stick into a predator. In stories a porcupine is prickly, grumpy or hard to hug. Phrases: porcupine quills, prickly as a porcupine.

### Examples

- A porcupine raises its quills when it feels scared. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x1)
- The dog came home with porcupine quills in its nose. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x2)
- Porcupines eat bark, leaves and fruit. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x3)
- A baby porcupine is called a porcupette. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x4)
- The porcupine climbed a tree to escape the fox. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x5)
- Porcupines cannot shoot their quills, despite the myth. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x6)
- My little brother's hair stuck up like a porcupine after his nap. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x7)
- We read a story about a porcupine who wanted a hug. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x8)
- A Porcupine was looking for a good home. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x9)

### Note

Countable: one porcupine, two porcupines. Myth: porcupines do not shoot or throw their quills; the quills come off when touched. Do not confuse with a hedgehog (smaller, an insectivore not a rodent, with short spines, lives in the UK and Europe) or an echidna (an Australian egg-laying mammal with spines). The name comes from old words meaning «spiny pig», though it is not a pig.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «porcupine» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«porcupine» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/porcupine.html) on Mova free.