[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/porcupine.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / porcupine

[← P](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/P/)

# porcupine

«porcupine» in Mova's school dictionary: **a large rodent covered in long sharp spines called…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a porcupine, porcupines)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A porcupine is a large rodent covered in long sharp spines called quills, which protect it from enemies. [tree →](https://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#m2)

### sense 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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x1)
- The dog came home with porcupine quills in its nose. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x2)
- Porcupines eat bark, leaves and fruit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x3)
- A baby porcupine is called a porcupette. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x4)
- The porcupine climbed a tree to escape the fox. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x5)
- Porcupines cannot shoot their quills, despite the myth. [tree →](https://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x7)
- We read a story about a porcupine who wanted a hug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/#x8)
- A Porcupine was looking for a good home. [tree →](https://md.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.

### In the corpora

- [Porcupines cannot shoot their quills; the barbed quills come out easily when touched and stick into the attacker.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/154-more-animal-myths-from-cartoons/7/)
- [A North American porcupine has about 30,000 quills, and it rattles them and stamps as a warning first.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/154-more-animal-myths-from-cartoons/8/)
- [The American and the African and Asian porcupines are only distant relatives, and many scientists think they grew quills separately.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/317-rodents-of-every-kind-squirrels-marmots-prairie-dogs-porcupines-chinchillas-and-dormice/14/)
- [Porcupines can't shoot their quills; the quills come loose easily when touched and stick into an attacker.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/8-wild-animals-and-tall-tales/10/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «porcupine» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/porcupine/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.