viscacha

or viz·ca·cha

[ vi-skah-chuh ]
/ vɪˈskɑ tʃə /

noun

a burrowing rodent, Lagostomus maximus, about the size of a groundhog, inhabiting the pampas of Paraguay and Argentina, allied to the chinchilla.
Also called mountain viscacha. a related rodent of the genus Lagidium, of the Andes, about the size of a squirrel, having rabbitlike ears and a squirrellike tail.

Origin of viscacha

1595–1605; < Spanish < Quechua wisk’acha

Words nearby viscacha

visard, visayan, visayan islands, visby, visc., viscacha, viscaria, viscera, viscerad, visceral, visceral anesthesia

Example sentences from the Web for viscacha

  • There the biscacha, or viscacha—as it is indifferently spelt—plays pretty much the same part as the rabbit in our northern lands.

    Gaspar the Gaucho |Mayne Reid

  • Closely related to the chinchilla is the viscacha, which is found very abundantly in the great pampas districts of South America.

    The Animal World, A Book of Natural History |Theodore Wood

  • In many forms this part of the sternum is much broader than the pieces which follow; this is so with the Viscacha.

    The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia |Frank Evers Beddard

British Dictionary definitions for viscacha

viscacha

vizcacha

/ (vɪsˈkætʃə) /

noun

a gregarious burrowing hystricomorph rodent, Lagostomus maximus, of southern South America, similar to but larger than the chinchillas: family Chinchillidae
mountain viscacha the mountain chinchilla See chinchilla (def. 3)

Word Origin for viscacha

C17: from Spanish, from Quechuan wiskácha