guinea pig
nounDefinition of guinea pig
1
: a small stout-bodied short-eared tailless domesticated rodent (Cavia porcellus) of South American origin often kept as a pet and widely used in biological research
— called also cavy
2
: a subject of research, experimentation, or testing
Examples of guinea pig in a Sentence
He volunteered to act as a guinea pig in the experiment.
Recent Examples on the Web
But the star says being a guinea pig wasn’t always easy. — Janine Rubenstein, PEOPLE.com, "Kelly Clarkson Recalls How Season One of American Idol 'Wasn't Fun' in the Beginning," 29 Aug. 2019 Simrall said at the time that city officials never intended for Louisville to be a guinea pig or experiment. — Darcy Costello, The Courier-Journal, "Repairs underway on roads left damaged after Google Fiber's exit from Louisville," 28 Aug. 2019 The Internet is full of reports and photos of animals — including dogs, cats, squirrels, goats, bunnies, ferrets, guinea pigs, turtles, rats, deer, alpacas, sheep, pigs and even small horses — that have been outfitted with mobility devices. — Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, "Hobble, hobble! This Michigan turkey needs a custom wheelchair," 27 Aug. 2019 Pettersen will be the guinea pig for what maternity leave looks like at the Colorado legislature. — Anna Staver, The Denver Post, "Bills and a baby: Colorado Sen. Brittany Pettersen is breaking new ground," 20 Aug. 2019 The place would be used to house rabbits, guinea pigs and an occasional chinchilla — all animals that are in need of permanent homes. — Joan Morris, The Mercury News, "Are there non-lethal ways of controlling Bay Area’s rat population?," 9 Aug. 2019 Police removed 165 animals, including cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and turtles. — Jess Nocera, baltimoresun.com, "Columbia welfare society board members arrested, charged with 50 counts of animal cruelty," 2 July 2019 With cages artfully lining one wall of the room with their owners standing by, fans can pet a guinea pig while looking at the paraphernalia. — Caroline Tew, EW.com, "You can hold adorable guinea pigs at Fleabag-inspired pop-up cafe in Los Angeles," 7 Aug. 2019 The amount of time [referees] are taking to make decisions means, unfortunately, the women’s game, once again, is a guinea pig. — Xavier Harding, Fortune, "Women's World Cup: VAR Instant Replay Tech Has Players and Fans up in Arms," 24 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guinea pig.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for guinea pig
guinea pig
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of guinea pig
: a small animal that is often kept as a pet
: a person or thing used for testing something
See the full definition for guinea pig in the English Language Learners Dictionary
guinea pig
nounKids Definition of guinea pig
: a small stocky South American animal that is a rodent with short ears and a very short tail and is often kept as a pet
guinea pig
noun
guin·ea pig
| \ ˈgin-ē-ˌ
\
\
Medical Definition of guinea pig
: a small stout-bodied short-eared nearly tailless domesticated rodent of the genus Cavia (C. cobaya) often kept as a pet and widely used in biological research
— called also cavy
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