chinchilla

noun

1. (countable)A small, crepuscular rodent of the genus Chinchilla, native to the Andes Mountains, prized for their very soft fur and often kept as pets.

   “It's important to put a lot of thought into owning a chinchilla since they have a considerably long lifespan of 10 to 20 years. Chinchillas are most widely known for their exceptional fur coat.”

   “Chinchillas inhabit high elevations (3,000–5,000m) of the Chilean Andes Mountains. The chinchillas kept as pet or research animals in North America are all descendents^([sic]) of 13 founders wild caught in 1927.”

   “Chinchillas are long-lived rodents that are native to South America, primarily Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. The chinchilla is a hystricomorph (hedgehoglike) rodent closely related to guinea pigs, porcupines, and agoutis (Hrapkiewicz et al., 1998).”

2. (uncountable)The fur of a chinchilla, used for clothing.
3. (countable, uncountable)A variety of Persian cat with white fur and green eyes.

name

1. A surname from Spanish.