DCHP-1 Online
wood rat 
1 Obs. an aquatic rodent, Ondatra zibethica, common to many parts of North America and widely trapped for its valuable fur.
See also: muskrat (def. 1)
- 1760 The fur of this animal . . . that of the otter . . . the wood-rat . . . and martin, are what is called the Menue Peleterie, or lesser furs.
2 a rat of the genus Neotoma whose habitat is the bush, as the bushy-tailed wood rat.
See also: bushy-tailed wood rat
- 1836 (1932) A most destructive little animal, the wood rat . . . [is] of a grey colour, and of nearly the size and form of the common rat, but the tail resembles that of the ground squirrel.
- 1939 They had for food . . . marmot, squirrels and wood-rats when times were bad.
- 1760 The fur of this animal . . . that of the otter . . . the wood-rat . . . and martin, are what is called the Menue Peleterie, or lesser furs.