hedgehog

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often…

   A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked, native to Afro-Eurasia.

   • [L]ike Hedg-hogs vvhich / Lye tumbling in my bare-foote vvay, and mount / Their pricks at my foot-fall: ſometime am I / All vvound vvith Adders, vvho vvith clouen tongues / Doe hiſſe me into madneſſe: […]
   • Among the Romans the genital organ of the hedgehog and the wolf were among the ingredients used in aphrodisiac concoctions.
2. 2

   Any of several spiny mammals, such as the porcupine, that are similar to the hedgehog.

3. 3

   Ellipsis of Czech hedgehog (“an antitank obstacle constructed from three steel rails”).

   • Ukrainian civilians have been DIY-ing hedgehogs, welding two bars or beams at an angle to make a cross and then adding a third to ensure it holds its shape even if it's knocked over.
4. ›+ 12 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A spigot mortar-type of depth charge weapon from World War II that simultaneously fires a…

      A spigot mortar-type of depth charge weapon from World War II that simultaneously fires a number of explosives into the water to create a pattern of underwater explosions intended to attack submerged submarines.

   2. 5

      A type of chocolate cake (or slice), somewhat similar to an American brownie.

      • 2005, Paul Mitchell, The Favourite, Frank Moorhouse, The Best Australian Stories 2005, page 145, There are hedgehogs with sultanas as well as breadcrumbs, carrot cakes and fruitcakes and banana walnut loaves.
      • I am so flustered that I order a vanilla slice instead of hedgehog.
      • His wife had made a hedgehog cake and he offered some but Murphy refused – his mouth was so dry with terror he couldn′t swallow.
   3. 6

      A form of dredging machine.

   4. 7

      Certain flowering plants with parts resembling a member of family Erinaceidae

   5. 8

      The edible fungus Hydnum repandum.

      • Hedgehogs fruit from autumn until late spring. Many consumers are still unfamiliar with hedgehogs, and they have a relatively small commercial trade.
   6. 9

      A kind of electrical transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire…

      A kind of electrical transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire core being turned outward and presenting a bristling appearance.

   7. 10

      A way of serving food at a party, consisting of a half melon or potato etc. with…

      A way of serving food at a party, consisting of a half melon or potato etc. with individual cocktail sticks of cheese and pineapple stuck into it.

   8. 11

      A type of plane curve

      A type of plane curve; see Hedgehog (geometry).

   9. 12

      Someone who has one big overarching personal philosophy or worldview.

      • Austin was patiently and painstakingly concerned with truth within limitations. He was a hedgehog, not a fox.
      • Dewey was a hedgehog rather than a fox; he spent his life trying to articulate and restate a single vision, and in the writings of his third decade he already exhibits the tension I have claimed to find in the later writings.
   10. 13

       To make use of a hedgehog barricade as a defensive maneuver.

       • Hedgehogging means — let us call a spade a spade — that we're were encircled: It's something that has been forced upon us, a predicament from which we ought to try to escape as fast as possible.
       • Luettwitz hedgehogged his regiment and held his positions until the rest of the division arrived two days later.
       • During the night of May 27 the 90th Light Division hedgehogged south of El Adem.
   11. 14

       To array with spiky projections like the quills of a hedgehog.

       • All around were styrofoam cups hedgehogged with butts, and the threebar electric heater was encrusted with bits of charcoaled tobacco and frazzled stands of hair where people had stooped down to spark up.
       • The walls were pockmarked with fragments of stone and hedgehogged with jagged daggers of glass, while in the street below there were sickening splodges on the pavement which a workman was covering with sawdust.
       • I think they're from different faculties,” I reply, taking a step back to peruse the table filled with assorted snacks, my hand hovering over the hedgehogged tray of cheese and pineapple cocktail sticks.
   12. 15

       To curl up into a defensive ball.

       • You try for his head, but he's hedgehogged round now, elbows beside his ears and you can't get him.
       • I stayed hedgehogged in my ball, listening for movement and trying to ignore the cramp in my legs, the ache in my gut and — encore — the throbbing in my temples.
       • The dead man was lying on a pile of the blankets, curled up, his hands interlocked behind his head, knees drawn up to his chest. Hedgehogged, just like the others.

The neighborhood

• neighborhoglet
• neighborechidna
• neighborporcupine
• neighborerinaceous