What does "hedgehog" mean?
A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked, native to Afro-Eurasia.
Hedgehog
/ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked, native to Afro-Eurasia.
- Grammar: hedgehog is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: animal, antelope, ape, armadillo.
- Useful contrasts: nonspiny mammal.
- Usage evidence: The hedgehog on Gotland is a local symbol.
How to use "hedgehog"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hedgehog" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hedgehog" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hedgehog" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hedgehog" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hedgehog" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "animal" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hedgehog", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, characterized by their spiny back and often by the habit of rolling up into a ball when attacked, native to Afro-Eurasia.
"[L]ike Hedg-hogs vvhich / Lye tumbling in my bare-foote vvay, and mount / Their pricks at my foot-fall: ſometime am I / All vvound vvith Adders, vvho vvith clouen tongues / Doe hiſſe me into madneſſe: […]"
- 2 small nocturnal Old World mammal covered with both hair and protective spines wordnet
- 3 Any of several spiny mammals, such as the porcupine, that are similar to the hedgehog. US
- 4 relatively large rodents with sharp erectile bristles mingled with the fur wordnet
- 5 Ellipsis of Czech hedgehog (“an antitank obstacle constructed from three steel rails”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"Ukrainian civilians have been DIY-ing hedgehogs, welding two bars or beams at an angle to make a cross and then adding a third to ensure it holds its shape even if it's knocked over."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 A spigot mortar-type of depth charge weapon from World War II that simultaneously fires a number of explosives into the water to create a pattern of underwater explosions intended to attack submerged submarines. historical, informal
- 7 A type of chocolate cake (or slice), somewhat similar to an American brownie. Australia
"2005, Paul Mitchell, The Favourite, Frank Moorhouse, The Best Australian Stories 2005, page 145, There are hedgehogs with sultanas as well as breadcrumbs, carrot cakes and fruitcakes and banana walnut loaves."
- 8 A form of dredging machine.
"The first machines merely loosened, but did not raise the stuff, a scouring being afterwards effected by means of sluices. These machines consisted of large bars or prongs placed vertically in a frame, and being fastened to a barge placed in the line of the sluices, the whole was inpelled forward by the current, thereby scouring the bed. Such a machine, called a hedgehog, is still used in Lincolnshire."
- 9 Certain flowering plants with parts resembling a member of family Erinaceidae; Medicago intertexta, the pods of which are armed with short spines.
- 10 Certain flowering plants with parts resembling a member of family Erinaceidae; Retzia capensis of South Africa.
- 11 The edible fungus Hydnum repandum.
"Hedgehogs fruit from autumn until late spring. Many consumers are still unfamiliar with hedgehogs, and they have a relatively small commercial trade."
- 12 A kind of electrical transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire core being turned outward and presenting a bristling appearance.
- 13 A way of serving food at a party, consisting of a half melon or potato etc. with individual cocktail sticks of cheese and pineapple stuck into it.
- 14 A type of plane curve; see Hedgehog (geometry).
- 15 Someone who has one big overarching personal philosophy or worldview.
"Austin was patiently and painstakingly concerned with truth within limitations. He was a hedgehog, not a fox."
Verb
- 1 To make use of a hedgehog barricade as a defensive maneuver.
"Hedgehogging means — let us call a spade a spade — that we're were encircled: It's something that has been forced upon us, a predicament from which we ought to try to escape as fast as possible."
- 2 To array with spiky projections like the quills of a hedgehog.
"All around were styrofoam cups hedgehogged with butts, and the threebar electric heater was encrusted with bits of charcoaled tobacco and frazzled stands of hair where people had stooped down to spark up."
- 3 To curl up into a defensive ball. ambitransitive
"You try for his head, but he's hedgehogged round now, elbows beside his ears and you can't get him."
Antonyms
nonspiny mammal
Example
"The hedgehog on Gotland is a local symbol."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hedgehog"?
Common synonyms include: animal, antelope, ape, armadillo, bat, bear.
How do you use "hedgehog" in a sentence?
The hedgehog on Gotland is a local symbol.
How do you pronounce "hedgehog"?
Pronounced /ˈhɛd͡ʒ.hɒɡ/.
Etymology
From Middle English heyghoge; equivalent to hedge + hog. Eclipsed non-native Middle English yrchoun, irchoun (“hedgehog”), from Old French hirchoun, herichon (“hedgehog”); and displaced earlier Middle English il, from Old English īl, iġil (“hedgehog”). In the philosophical sense, from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin.