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hedgehog

hedgehog is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(Zoöl.) The Canadian porcupine.[U.S]
  2. 2.(Bot.) A species of Medicago (M. intertexta), the pods of which are armed with short spines; -- popularly so called. Loudon.
  3. 3.A form of dredging machine. Knight. Hedgehog caterpillar (Zoöl.), the hairy larvæ of several species of bombycid moths, as of the Isabella moth. It curls up like a hedgehog when disturbed. See Woolly bear, and Isabella moth. -- Hedgehog fish (Zoöl.), any spinose plectognath fish, esp. of the genus Diodon; the porcupine fish. -- Hedgehog grass (Bot.), a grass with spiny involucres, growing on sandy shores; burgrass (Cenchrus tribuloides). -- Hedgehog rat (Zoöl.), one of several West Indian rodents, allied to the porcupines, but with ratlike tails, and few quills, or only stiff bristles. The hedgehog rats belong to Capromys, Plagiodon, and allied genera. -- Hedgehog shell (Zoöl.), any spinose, marine, univalve shell of the genus Murex. -- Hedgehog thistle (Bot.), a plant of the Cactus family, globular in form, and covered with spines (Echinocactus). -- Sea hedgehog. See Diodon.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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