Library / English Dictionary

HAMSTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Short-tailed Old World burrowing rodent with large cheek pouches

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("hamster" is a kind of...):

gnawer; rodent (relatively small placental mammals having a single pair of constantly growing incisor teeth specialized for gnawing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hamster"):

Cricetus cricetus; Eurasian hamster (a variety of hamster common to Europe and Asia)

golden hamster; Mesocricetus auratus; Syrian hamster (small light-colored hamster often kept as a pet)

Holonyms ("hamster" is a member of...):

Cricetus; genus Cricetus (type genus of the Cricetidae: Old World hamsters)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Of note, Chinese hamster ovary cell lines are highly transfectable and are used in a variety of pre-clinical research applications.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus)

Additionally, the modified tunicamycin didn't harm cultures of human and hamster cells when it was added to them in tests for toxicity.

(Soil Bacterium Tapped for Penicillin Guard Duty, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Originating in the deserts of northern China and Mongolia and kept in captivity since 1919, these hamsters exhibit a whitish/grey/brown coat color with a black stripe down the spine.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

The virus can also infect monkeys, dogs, field mice, guinea pigs, and hamsters, the latter an epidemiologically important host.

(Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

H. cinaedi is found in the normal gut flora of hamsters and is an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients causing fever, gastroenteritis, bacteremia and recurrent cellulitis.

(Helicobacter cinaedi, NCI Thesaurus)

Derived from the original group of Syrian hamsters captured by Dr. Israel Aharoni in 1930 and imported into the United States in 1938, followed by colony derivation at Lakeview in 1949 and 1951 and to Charles River in 1969, where the strain is propagated today.

(LVG Hamster, NCI Thesaurus)

The Chinese hamster has a relatively long thin body and tail in comparison to other hamster breeds and is crepuscular year round in captivity.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus)

Originating in the deserts of northern China and Mongolia and kept in captivity since 1919, these hamsters exhibit a whitish/grey/brown coat color with a black stripe down the spine, and have a life span of two to three years.

(Chinese Hamster, NCI Thesaurus)