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Ermine vs Hedgehog - What's the difference?

ermine | hedgehog |

As nouns the difference between ermine and hedgehog

is that ermine is a weasel, , found in northern latitudes; its dark brown fur turns white in winter (apart from the black tip of the tail) while hedgehog is a small mammal, of the subfamily erinaceinae, characterized by its spiny back and by its habit of rolling itself into a ball when attacked.

As a verb ermine

is to clothe with ermine.

ermine

English

Noun

(wikipedia ermine) (en-noun)
  • A weasel, , found in northern latitudes; its dark brown fur turns white in winter (apart from the black tip of the tail)
  • The white fur of this animal
  • (poetic) A symbol of purity
  • (figuratively) The office of a judge
  • (tincture) A white field with black spots

    • Synonyms

    * stoat (British) * short-tailed weasel * wild otter

    Verb

    (ermin)
  • To clothe with ermine

    • References

    * OED 2nd edition 1989

    Anagrams

    * ----

    hedgehog

    English

    (wikipedia hedgehog)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small mammal, of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by its spiny back and by its habit of rolling itself into a ball when attacked.
  • A type of moveable military barricade made from crossed logs or steel bars, laced with barbed wire, used to damage or impede tanks and vehicles; Czech hedgehog.
  • The nickname for a spigot mortar-type of depth charge weapon from World War II that simultaneously fires a number of explosives into the water to create a pattern of underwater explosions intended to attack submerged submarines.
  • (Australia) A type of chocolate cake (or slice), somewhat similar to an American brownie.
  • * 2005 , Paul Mitchell, The Favourite'', Frank Moorhouse, ''The Best Australian Stories 2005 , page 145,
    • There are hedgehogs with sultanas as well as breadcrumbs, carrot cakes and fruitcakes and banana walnut loaves.
  • * 2008 , Lili Wilkinson, The Not Quite Perfect Boyfriend , unnumbered page,
    • I am so flustered that I order a vanilla slice instead of hedgehog .
  • * 2009 , , The Skull: Informers, Hit Men and Australia's Toughest Cop , page 199,
    • His wife had made a hedgehog cake and he offered some but Murphy refused – his mouth was so dry with terror he couldn?t swallow.
  • A form of dredging machine.
    • (Knight)
  • * 1868 , "Dredging," article in Charles Tomlinson (editor), Cyclopædia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical, Manufactures, Mining, and Engineering , Volume 1, page 520,
    • The first machines merely loosened, but did not raise the stuff, a scouring being afterwards effected by means of sluices. These machines consisted of large bars or prongs placed vertically in a frame, and being fastened to a barge placed in the line of the sluices, the whole was inpelled forward by the current, thereby scouring the bed. Such a machine, called a hedgehog , is still used in Lincolnshire.
  • The flowering plant , the pods of which are armed with short spines.
    • (Loudon)

    Synonyms

    * (mammal with spines) urchin (archaic), furze-pig (West Country), hedgepig (UK), Erinaceus europaeus * (Medicago intertexta)

    Coordinate terms

    * (mammal with spines) gymnure

    Derived terms

    * Czech hedgehog * hedgehog signalling pathway * sonic hedgehog

    See also

    * echidna * porcupine * erinaceous