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
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 2019 The tournament was a guinea pig to a new penalty rule introduced at the beginning of this month which begs the question: is it the officials or the way VAR and a new law has been introduced at this major tournament? — Aimee Lewis, CNN, "Women's World Cup: Referees and VAR under the microscope after dramatic weekend in France," 23 June 2019 Fried chicken and fries may be delicious but so is guinea pig. — National Geographic, "Here’s why every foodie you know is heading to Peru," 19 July 2019 My younger sister and I were thrilled by the unexpected birth of three baby guinea pigs. — Los Angeles Times, "Readers remember the Apollo 11 moon landing, 50 years later," 18 July 2019 The Humane Society has approximately 30 cats, 10 dogs, four guinea pigs, and one rabbit available for adoption currently, according to Hampton. — Mary Grace Keller, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Happy tails: Children learn at Carroll County Humane Society Critter Camp," 15 July 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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