DCHP-1 Online

woodshock < Algonk., alteration of Cree o(t)chāk

• n. a weasel-like fur-bearer, Martes pennanti.

  See also: fisher  wejack  woodchuck  

  • 1719  (1965)  Marginal note in another hand: "has sent 14 wooskocks but not castoreum."
  • 1784  This animal inhabits Hudson's Bay . . . [where] they are called Wejacks and Woodshocks. . . .
  • 1836  The skins of the pekan are called "woodshocks" at the Hudson's Bay Company's sales.
  • 1869  The pekan, or woodshock . . . generally lives in burrows near the banks of rivers, as it principally feeds on the small quadrupeds that frequent the water.