kangaroo rat

1. 1.

   any of various leaping rodents of desert regions of North America and Mexico; largest members of the family Heteromyidae

   Synonymsdesert ratDipodomys phillipsii

   Broaderpocket rat

   NarrowerOrd kangaroo rat

   Part ofDipodomys
2. 2.

   any of several rabbit-sized ratlike Australian kangaroos

   Synonymsrat kangaroo

   Broaderkangaroo

   Narrowerpotoroobettongjerboa kangaroo

   Part ofPotoroinae

Questions about kangaroo rat

What does kangaroo rat mean?

kangaroo rat means "any of various leaping rodents of desert regions of North America and Mexico; largest members of the family Heteromyidae". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for kangaroo rat?

Close synonyms include desert rat, Dipodomys phillipsii, rat kangaroo. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is kangaroo rat a common word?

kangaroo rat is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.