English Explanatory Dictionary

water rat

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

Any of various aquatic or semi-aquatic rodents from Florida and southern Georgia, especially Neofiber alleni; the muskrat.
A water mouse, especially, the rakali, Hydromys chrysogaster.
A European water vole (Arvicola amphibius, formerly Arvicola terrestris).
A petty thief or waterfront ruffian.
A person fond of water sports.
A member of the water police.

Pronunciation

en-au-water rat.ogg

Word forms

water rat water rats waterrat water-rat

Etymology

From water + rat. Compare Saterland Frisian Woaterrotte, West Frisian wetterrôt, Dutch waterrat, German Low German Waterrötte, Waterrött, German Wasserratte, Danish vandrotte, Swedish vattenråtta, Icelandic vatnsrotta.

Related words

beaver-rat

Derived words

Ziegler's water rat

← water races
← water rail
← water rails
← water ram
← water rams

water rats →
water repellent →
water repellents →
water ribbons →
water ring →

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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