guinea pig

Guin·ea pig

G g

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [gin-ee pig]
- /ˈgɪn i pɪg/
- /ˈɡɪn.i pɪɡ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [gin-ee pig]
- /ˈgɪn i pɪg/

Definitions of guinea pig words

noun guinea pig a short-eared, tailless rodent of the genus Cavia, usually white, black, and tawny, commonly regarded as the domesticated form of one of the South American wild species of cavy: often used in scientific experiments or kept as a pet. 1
noun guinea pig Informal. the subject of any sort of experiment. 1
noun guinea pig small South American mammal 1
noun guinea pig sb used as experimental subject 1
countable noun guinea pig If someone is used as a guinea pig in an experiment, something is tested on them that has not been tested on people before. 0
countable noun guinea pig A guinea pig is a small furry animal without a tail. Guinea pigs are often kept as pets. 0

See all 14 definitions of guinea pig

Information block about the term

Origin of guinea pig

First appearance:

before 1655

One of the 46% oldest English words

First recorded in 1655-65

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Guinea pig

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Guinea pig

guinea pig popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 34% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 64% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

guinea pig usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for guinea pig

noun guinea pig

subject — that which forms a basic matter of thought, discussion, investigation, etc.: a subject of conversation.
victim — a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency: a victim of an automobile accident.
rodent — belonging or pertaining to the gnawing or nibbling mammals of the order Rodentia, including the mice, squirrels, beavers, etc.
cavy — any small South American hystricomorph rodent of the family Caviidae, esp any of the genus Cavia, having a thickset body and very small tail
testee — a person who is tested, as by a scholastic examination.

All 5 Synonyms of guinea pig