RODENT

noun Etymology: ultimately from Latin ~-, rodens, present participle of rodere to gnaw; akin to Latin radere to scrape, scratch, Sanskrit radati he gnaws Date: 1835 any of an order (Rodentia) of relatively small gnawing mammals (as a mouse, squirrel, or beaver) that have in both jaws a single pair of incisors with a chisel-shaped edge, a small mammal (as a rabbit or a shrew) other than a true ~, ~ adjective