hedgehog
Pronunciation: /ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/
The English word “hedgehog” has 15 meanings listed here.
noun
- A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked, native to Afro-Eurasia.
- Any of several spiny mammals, such as the porcupine, that are similar to the hedgehog.
- A spigot mortar-type of depth charge weapon from World War II that simultaneously fires a number of explosives into the water to create a pattern of underwater explosions intended to attack submerged submarines.
- A type of chocolate cake (or slice), somewhat similar to an American brownie.
- A form of dredging machine.
- Medicago intertexta, the pods of which are armed with short spines.
- Retzia capensis of South Africa.
- The edible fungus Hydnum repandum.
- A kind of electrical transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire core being turned outward and presenting a bristling appearance.
- A way of serving food at a party, consisting of a half melon or potato etc. with individual cocktail sticks of cheese and pineapple stuck into it.
- A type of plane curve; see Hedgehog (geometry).
- Someone who has one big overarching personal philosophy or worldview.
verb
Etymology
From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and displaced earlier Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”). In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Compare typologically Korean 고슴도치 (goseumdochi) (<<+…
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.