chipmunk
n. countablen. a small, furry animal that looks like a squirrel and lives in North America. It has a short tail and often carries food in its cheeks.
n. a small, striped rodent of the genus Tamias, native to North America. It is distinguished by its short, bushy tail and the habit of carrying seeds in its cheek pouches.
A chipmunk ran across the garden path.
While hiking in the mountains, we saw a chipmunk storing acorns in its cheeks to carry back to its nest.
The forest floor was a bustling ecosystem where the chipmunk's constant search for seeds provided a vital food source for both predators and the local bird population.
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.