LEMMING


Meaning of LEMMING in English

■ noun

1》 a short-tailed, thickset Arctic rodent, noted for fluctuating populations and periodic mass migrations. [ Lemmus lemmus and other species.]

2》 a person who unthinkingly joins a mass rush to destruction.

Origin

C18: from Norw. and Dan.; related to ON lómundr .

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.