chinˈchilə noun
Etymology: Spanish, probably from Aimara or Quechua
1. -s : a small rodent ( Chinchilla laniger ) the size of a large squirrel having very soft fur of a pearly gray color and native to the mountains of Peru and Chile but now extensively bred in captivity
2. -s : the fur of the chinchilla
3. capitalized
[New Latin, from Spanish]
: a genus (the type of the family Chinchillidae) of hystricomorph rodents comprising the chinchillas
4. -s : a heavy twilled woolen coating with double cloth construction and with deep napping that is rubbed into curled tufts and nubs
5. -s often capitalized : a domestic rabbit of a breed distinguished by dense soft fur each hair of which is banded with slate blue, pearl gray, and white and tipped with black
6. -s often capitalized : a domestic long-haired cat having green eyes and a pale silver coat sometimes tipped with black
7. : genetic lack of ability to produce yellow pigment occurring as a member of a polygenic series of variants in mammalian coat-color, dominant to albinism and Himalayan but recessive to wild type, and resulting in a silvery coat suggesting that of the chinchilla
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