chipmunk
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
Etymology
1832; alteration (influenced by chipping squirrel) of earlier chitmunk, from older Ojibwe ačitamo˙nˀ (“squirrels”) (modern ajidamoo), literally ‘those who descend headlong’, from ačit- (“headfirst, face-down”) (compare modern ajijibizo (“he falls headfirst”), ajidagoojin (“he hangs upside down”)). The English verb developed due to the high-pitched voices of the American puppet and cartoon chipmunks in the group Alvin and the Chipmunks, who later starred in a popular children's TV show in the 1980s.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪp.mʌŋk/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: chip‧munk
Noun
chipmunk (plural chipmunks)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Kashubian: szczipniôk (Canada, United States)
Translations
squirrel-like rodent
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Verb
chipmunk (third-person singular simple present chipmunks, present participle chipmunking, simple past and past participle chipmunked)
- (transitive) To speed up (an audio recording, especially a song), to make the voices high-pitched.
- 2005, Vibe, volume 13, number 10, page 232:
- The Dipset capo favors breezy, bass-heavy beats instead of chipmunked soul samples to celebrate the 'hood's favorite season.
- (transitive) To fill (one's mouth or cheeks) with food.
- 2006, Ryan Nerz, Eat This Book:
- Less than a minute to go and she's chewing almost viciously, her stuffed cheeks all chipmunked out like Dizzy Gillespie's in midsolo.
- (transitive) To stuff (food) into one's mouth or cheeks, sometimes as part of competitive eating.
- 2011, Robert Buettner, Orphan's Destiny:
- She chipmunked her breakfast into a porcelain cheek.
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