Definition of "chinchilla" []

• A squirrellike rodent (Chinchilla laniger) native to the mountains of South America and widely raised in captivity for its soft, pale gray fur. (noun)
• The fur of this animal. (noun)
• A thick twilled cloth of wool and cotton used for overcoats. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The word chinchilla would have occurred irresistibly to this observer from behind; he might also, if he were the father of a family, have had a fleeting vision of many autographed stubs in a check book."
• "(Mariette’s last name has been turned invisible to protect the identity of the chinchilla that lives with her, as that chinchilla is a secret agent in the Dominican Republic Secret Engagement Xyloforce.) “You do know Mariette!”"
• "First thing I knew, I was dreaming you and I were being married, and you had brass buttons all over you, and I had the cloak all right, but it was a wedding-dress, and the chinchilla was a wormy sort of orange blossoms, and -- and I waked when the handle of the door turned and the"