From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishporcupinepor‧cu‧pine /ˈpɔːkjəpaɪn $ ˈpɔːr-/ noun [countable] HBAan animal with long sharp parts growing all over its back and sides
Examples from the Corpus
porcupine• Where he had touched her her scalp was prickling like a porcupine.• Or the do-probe-me inaccessibility of a porcupine.• Here the spikes can become enormous quills - those of the great crested porcupine are as long as 20 inches.• Puffers Closely related to the porcupine fish are the puffers.• But this porcupine had no scratch on its belly; it had been attacked at the front end instead.• One of the stars of Jane's collection was this porcupine fish, which probably came from the Tropics.• Some describe it as a red-eyed E. look-alike with porcupine quills running down his spine.• And there, just in front of this cave, lifeless and on its back, lay a young porcupine.Origin porcupine (1300-1400) Old French porc espin, from Latin porcus ( → PORK) + spina “sharp point” 