guinea pig : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: guinea pig	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for guinea pig
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
guinea pig n a person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation; "the subjects for this investigation were selected randomly"; "the cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities" Synonym(s): subject, case, guinea pig stout-bodied nearly tailless domesticated cavy; often kept as a pet and widely used in research Synonym(s): guinea pig, Cavia cobaya
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Guinea \Guin"ea\ (g[icr]n"[esl]), n. 1. A district on the west coast of Africa (formerly noted for its export of gold and slaves) after which the Guinea fowl, Guinea grass, Guinea peach, etc., are named. 2. A gold coin of England current for twenty-one shillings sterling, or about five dollars, but not coined since the issue of sovereigns in 1817. The guinea, so called from the Guinea gold out of which it was first struck, was proclaimed in 1663, and to go for twenty shillings; but it never went for less than twenty-one shillings. --Pinkerton. {Guinea corn}. (Bot.) See {Durra}. {Guinea Current} (Geog.), a current in the Atlantic Ocean setting southwardly into the Bay of Benin on the coast of Guinea. {Guinea dropper} one who cheats by dropping counterfeit guineas. [Obs.] --Gay. {Guinea fowl}, {Guinea hen} (Zo[94]l.), an African gallinaceous bird, of the genus {Numida}, allied to the pheasants. The common domesticated species ({N. meleagris}), has a colored fleshy horn on each aide of the head, and is of a dark gray color, variegated with small white spots. The crested Guinea fowl ({N. cristata}) is a finer species. {Guinea grains} (Bot.), grains of Paradise, or amomum. See {Amomum}. {Guinea grass} (Bot.), a tall strong forage grass ({Panicum jumentorum}) introduced. from Africa into the West Indies and Southern United States. {Guinea-hen flower} (Bot.), a liliaceous flower ({Fritillaria Meleagris}) with petals spotted like the feathers of the Guinea hen. {Guinea peach}. See under {Peach}. {Guinea pepper} (Bot.), the pods of the {Xylopia aromatica}, a tree of the order {Anonace[91]}, found in tropical West Africa. They are also sold under the name of {Piper [92]thiopicum}. {Guinea pig}. [Prob. a mistake for Guiana pig.] (a) (Zo[94]l.) A small Brazilian rodent ({Cavia cobaya}), about seven inches in length and usually of a white color, with spots of orange and black.