dormouse
noun
Note: Dormice hibernate during cold weather and may become torpid at other times of the year when food is scarce.
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Any of 20 rodent species found throughout Eurasia and North Africa, dormice have large eyes, soft fur, rounded ears, and a hairy tail. They live in trees, bushes, and rock walls and in nests of plant material. They eat fruit, nuts, birds’ eggs, and some insects and small animals. Many species sleep for long periods, particularly in winter. The largest species, known as the edible dormouse, is gray and attains a maximum length of 8 in (20 cm), excluding the 6-in (15-cm) tail.
Examples of dormouse in a Sentence
Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 May 2024
Edible dormouse in kitchen by Bertille de Fombelle (via Wikimedia Commons); dormouse stew by Bob Ramsak/piran café (via Flickr).
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2015
Today, the edible dormouse lives in forests across Europe, as well as in some cities.
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2015
By capturing and testing small mammals - like this crushingly adorable woodland dormouse - in neighboring agricultural and forested habitats in Tanzania, researchers have demonstrated that agricultural conversion has led to increases in the risk of plague to humans.
—Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 24 Feb. 2015
The edible dormouse is still hunted in Slovenia and Croatia.
—Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 17 Nov. 2015
The dormouse, of course, was the biggest of all the creatures.
—Sarah Schutte, National Review, 24 Oct. 2021
Their world seems like our own but then, when a dormouse is offered as a snack, becomes almost carnivalesque.
—James Romm, WSJ, 12 Mar. 2021
The edible dormouse is listed as threatened in all those countries.
—Jason Bittel, National Geographic, 28 Dec. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dormouse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Dormouse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dormouse. Accessed 12 Jun. 2024.
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dormouse
noun
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