Urchin /(û"chĭn)/

Ur·chin

Urchin

n.
  1. A hedgehog. (Zool.)
  2. A sea urchin. See Sea urchin. (Zool.)
  3. A mischievous elf supposed sometimes to take the form a hedgehog.
  4. A pert or roguish child; -- now commonly used only of a boy.
    And the urchins that stand with their thievish eyes Forever on watch ran off each with a prize.
    — W. Howitt.
    You did indeed dissemble, you urchin you; but where's the girl that won't dissemble for an husband?
  5. One of a pair in a series of small card cylinders, arranged around a carding drum; -- so called from its fancied resemblance to the hedgehog.

Phrases & Compounds

Urchin fish
a diodon.

Urchin

a.
  1. Rough; pricking; piercing. [R.]