hedgehog
part of speech
noun (a hedgehog, hedgehogs)
meaning for a pupil
A hedgehog is a small wild animal with a pointed nose and a back covered in sharp spines, which rolls into a ball when frightened. tree →
sense in the lessons
In nature lessons in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, hedgehogs live in gardens, hedges and woods; they are nocturnal, eat slugs, beetles and worms, and hibernate in winter. Hedgehogs are not native to North America or Australia (in New Zealand they were brought in). In stories, the hedgehog is often small, shy and brave. Phrases: roll up like a hedgehog, hedgehog house, hedgehog highway (a gap under a fence).
examples
- A hedgehog snuffled through the leaves at night. tree →
- The hedgehog rolled into a prickly ball. tree →
- Hedgehogs eat slugs and beetles. tree →
- Hedgehogs hibernate in winter. tree →
- Check bonfires for hedgehogs before lighting them. tree →
- We cut a small hole in the fence for hedgehogs. tree →
- 'Yes, do let us!' answered the hedgehog. tree →
note
Plural hedgehogs. Do not give hedgehogs milk or bread; it makes them ill — water and meaty cat food are better. A porcupine is a different, bigger animal with longer quills. Hedgehog spines are not poisonous and cannot be shot out.
In the corpora
- Hedgehogs should not be given milk, which can make them ill; leave out water and meaty cat or dog food instead.
- The moonrat smells strongly of garlic or onion, and despite its name it is not a rat but a cousin of the hedgehog.
- Tenrecs look like hedgehogs or shrews but are actually related to elephants and aardvarks, African animals that dig for ants.
- A hedgehog wears about five thousand spines, and each one is a stiff, hollow hair.
- Slug pellets can poison hedgehogs that eat poisoned slugs, and hedgehogs are getting rarer in Britain.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hedgehog» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.