chipmunk

English

A chipmunk.

Alternative forms

• chipmuck (archaic)
• chitmunk (dated)

Etymology

1832; alteration (influenced by chipping squirrel) of earlier chitmunk, from older Ojibwe ačitamo˙nˀ (“squirrels”) (modern ajidamoo), literally ‘those who descend headlong’, from ačit- (“headfirst, face-down”) (compare modern ajijibizo (“he falls headfirst”), ajidagoojin (“he hangs upside down”)). The English verb developed due to the high-pitched voices of the American puppet and cartoon chipmunks in the group Alvin and the Chipmunks, who later starred in a popular children's TV show in the 1980s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪp.mʌŋk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: chip‧munk

Noun

chipmunk (plural chipmunks)

1. A squirrel-like rodent of the genus Tamias, native mainly to North America.

Synonyms

• ground squirrel, striped squirrel

Derived terms

• chipmunk voice
• common chipmunk
• hidden forest chipmunk
• Siberian chipmunk
• Uinta chipmunk

 

Translations

squirrel-like rodent

• Abenaki: anikwses
• Armenian: շերտասկյուռ (šertaskyuṙ)
• Belarusian: бурунду́к m (burundúk)
• Bulgarian: бурунду́к m (burundúk)
• Buryat: жэрхи (žerxi)
• Cahuarano: sisill
• Cahuilla: sisill
• Catalan: esquirol llistat m
• Cherokee: ᎩᏳᎦ (giyuga)
• Cheyenne: néške'ēsta
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 花栗鼠 (zh) (huālìshǔ)

• Choctaw: chinisa
• Chuvash: пӑрӑнтӑк (părănt̬ăk)
• Danish: jordegern n
• Dutch: wangzakeekhoorn (nl) m
• Esperanto: tamiaso
• Estonian: vöötorav
• Faroese: jarðaríkorni m
• Finnish: maaorava (fi), tikutaku (fi)
• French: tamia (fr) m, suisse (fr) m
• Georgian: ბურუნდუკი (burunduḳi), ციყვი (ciq̇vi)
• German: Streifenhörnchen (de) n
• Hawaiian: ʻakuiki
• Hungarian: csíkosmókus (hu)
• Icelandic: jarðíkorni m
• Irish: iora talún m
• Italian: tamia m
• Japanese: シマリス (shimarisu), 縞栗鼠 (ja) (しまりす, shimarisu)
• Khakas: кӧрік
• Komi-Zyrian: орда (orda), визяорда (viźaorda)
• Korean: 다람쥐 (ko) (daramjwi)
• Latin: tamias
• Lithuanian: burundukas (lt)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: урымдо (urymdo)

  Western Mari: урымды (urymdy)

• Mi'kmaq: apalqaqamej anim, apalgaqamej anim, amalpaqamej anim
• Mohegan-Pequot: aniks
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: жирх (mn) (žirx)

  Mongolian: ᠵᠢᠷᠬᠡ (ǰirke)

• Nanai: улги (ulgi)
• Navajo: hazéítsʼósii
• Nivkh: тʼаӻр (tʼaꜧ̇r), курӈай (kurŋaj)
• Northern Mansi: ^{(please verify)} косяр (kosâr)
• Ojibwe: agongos
• Polish: pręgowiec m
• Portuguese: tâmia (pt) f
• Romanian: veveriță dungată f
• Russian: бурунду́к (ru) m (burundúk)
• Scottish Gaelic: feòrag-stiallach f
• Spanish: ardilla listada f, tamia f
• Swedish: jordekorre (sv) c
• Taos: kʼùoxwį́wna
• Tatar: борындык (tt) (borındıq)
• Thai: ชิปมังก์
• Udmurt: урдо (urdo)
• Ukrainian: бурунду́к (uk) m (burundúk)
• Uzbek: burunduq
• Vietnamese: sóc chuột (vi)
• Welsh: gwiwer resog f

Verb

chipmunk (third-person singular simple present chipmunks, present participle chipmunking, simple past and past participle chipmunked)

1. (transitive) To speed up (an audio recording, especially a song), to make the voices high-pitched.
   • 2005, Vibe, volume 13, number 10, page 232:

     The Dipset capo favors breezy, bass-heavy beats instead of chipmunked soul samples to celebrate the 'hood's favorite season.

2. (transitive) To fill (one's mouth or cheeks) with food.
   • 2006, Ryan Nerz, Eat This Book:

     Less than a minute to go and she's chewing almost viciously, her stuffed cheeks all chipmunked out like Dizzy Gillespie's in midsolo.

3. (transitive) To stuff (food) into one's mouth or cheeks, sometimes as part of competitive eating.
   • 2011, Robert Buettner, Orphan's Destiny:

     She chipmunked her breakfast into a porcelain cheek.