chipmunk
/ˈt͡ʃɪp.mʌŋk/ noun, verb
Forms chipmunks chipmunking chipmunked chipmuck chitmunk
- noun Any of certain the small, striped rodents, all found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk, placed in the taxonomic subtribe Tamiina.
- verb (transitive) To speed up (an audio recording, especially a song), to make the voices high-pitched.
- verb (transitive) To fill (one's mouth or cheeks) with food.
- verb (transitive) To stuff (food) into one's mouth or cheeks, sometimes as part of competitive eating.
Etymology
1832; alteration (influenced by chipping squirrel) of earlier chitmunk, from older Ojibwe ačitamo˙nˀ (“squirrels”) (modern ajidamoo), literally ‘those who descend headlong’, from ačit- (“headfirst, face-down”) (compare modern ajijibizo (“he falls headfirst”), ajidagoojin (“he hangs upside down”)). The English verb developed due to the high-pitched voices of the American puppet and cartoon chipmunks in the group Alvin and the Chipmunks, who later starred in a popular children's TV show in the 1980s.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A squirrel-like animal of the genus Tamias, sometimes called the striped squirrel, chipping squirrel, ground squirrel, hackee. The common species of the United States is the Tamias striatus. [Written also chipmonk, chipmuck, and chipmuk.]
Etymology [Indian name.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chipmunk”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details