ENGLISH
REFERENCE

squirrel

n. · v.
US //ˈskwɝəɫ// UK //skwˈɪɹəl// squir·rel
  1. 1 the animal (n.)
    A2 Elementary

    a small animal with a long, bushy tail that lives in trees and eats nuts.

    a small arboreal rodent with a bushy tail, belonging to the family Sciuridae.

    Example

    A grey squirrel ran across the grass and climbed up the oak tree.

    Example

    The red squirrel is increasingly rare in parts of Britain due to competition from the more aggressive grey species.

  2. 2 to hide or save (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    to hide or store something away so you can use it in the future.

    to store or hide something in a secretive manner for future use; often used with the particle 'away'.

    Example

    She managed to squirrel away some money every month for her holiday.

    Example

    Over the years, he had managed to squirrel away a significant collection of rare stamps in a safe-deposit box.

    Usage

    Often used as the phrasal verb 'squirrel away'.
  3. 3 to get distracted (v.)
    C1 Advanced Informal American English

    to suddenly lose focus or start doing something else.

    to become suddenly distracted or to shift focus erratically from one task to another.

    Example

    I was trying to write my report, but I squirreled and started cleaning the kitchen instead.

    Example

    The meeting was productive until the director squirreled onto the topic of office furniture, wasting twenty minutes of our time.
Origin

From Middle English squirel, squyrelle, from Anglo-Norman esquirel and Old French escurel (whence French écureuil), from Vulgar Latin scūriolus, diminutive of scūrius, variant of Latin sciūrus, from Ancient Greek σκίουρος (skíouros, “shadow-tail”, from σκιά (skiá, “shadow”) + οὐρά (ourá, “tail”)). Displaced native Middle English acquerne, aquerne, from Old English ācweorna.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026