Cawquaw

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum). dated, no-plural, possibly, rare

    "The Cawquaw or Urson of North America also inhabits trees. It has not, however, a prehensile tail, that member being merely used as a weapon of offence, the short, sharp quills witb which it is armed sticking in the wounds […]"

Example

More examples

"The Cawquaw or Urson of North America also inhabits trees. It has not, however, a prehensile tail, that member being merely used as a weapon of offence, the short, sharp quills witb which it is armed sticking in the wounds […]"

Etymology

From Cree kâkwa / ᑳᑲᐧ (kaakay, “porcupine”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.