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: a small animal of America and Europe that has short legs and that lives in holes that it digs in the ground
Full Definition of MARMOT
: any of a genus (Marmota) of stout-bodied short-legged chiefly herbivorous burrowing rodents of the squirrel family that have coarse fur, a short bushy tail, and very small ears and that hibernate during the winter — compare woodchuck
: any of various stout-bodied short-legged burrowing rodents (genus Marmota) with coarse fur, a short bushy tail, and very small ears that are important reservoirs of sylvatic plague
Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus).—E.R. Degginger
Any of about 14 species (genus Marmota) of stout-bodied, diurnal, terrestrial squirrels found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Marmots are 12–24 in. (30–60 cm) long, excluding the short tail, and weigh 7–17 lbs (3–7.5 kg). Most species live in burrows or among boulders. They frequently sit upright and emit a whistling alarm call. Marmots live almost entirely on green plants, storing fat for hibernation. The black-and-white hoary marmot (M. caligata), of Siberia and northwestern North America, which hibernates for up to nine months, is hunted for food and fur. The yellow-bellied marmot (M. flaviventris) inhabits the western U.S. and British Columbia. See alsowoodchuck.