# squirrel

/ˈskwɝəɫ/ (US) · /skwˈɪɹəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/squirrel
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. the animal

noun · CEFR A2

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

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

- A grey squirrel ran across the grass and climbed up the oak tree.
- The red squirrel is increasingly rare in parts of Britain due to competition from the more aggressive grey species.

### 2. to hide or save

verb · CEFR B2 · Informal

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

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

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

verb · CEFR C1 · Informal · American English

to suddenly lose focus or start doing something else.

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

- I was trying to write my report, but I squirreled and started cleaning the kitchen instead.
- The meeting was productive until the director squirreled onto the topic of office furniture, wasting twenty minutes of our time.

## Examples

- The squirrel hid a nut in the garden.
- A grey squirrel scampered across the lawn and quickly climbed the oak tree to escape the dog.
- While many people view the squirrel as a charming woodland creature, urban planners often consider them pests due to their tendency to chew through electrical insulation and disrupt power grids.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.