GUINEA PIG

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does guinea pig mean? 

• GUINEA PIG (noun)
  The noun GUINEA PIG has 2 senses:

1. a person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation

2. stout-bodied nearly tailless domesticated cavy; often kept as a pet and widely used in research

  Familiarity information: GUINEA PIG used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GUINEA PIG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

case; guinea pig; subject

Context example:

the cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities

Hypernyms ("guinea pig" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Stout-bodied nearly tailless domesticated cavy; often kept as a pet and widely used in research

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Cavia cobaya; guinea pig

Hypernyms ("guinea pig" is a kind of...):

cavy (short-tailed rough-haired South American rodent)

 Context examples 

This guinea pig breed is used as an animal model for studying human diseases and toxins harmful to man, as well as the development of serums and vaccines.

(Dunkin Hartley Guinea Pig, NCI Thesaurus)

To test this hypothesis, scientists from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) infected mice with HSV-1 and guinea pigs with HSV-2 and randomly assigned the animals to different treatment groups.

(Glutamine suppresses herpes in mice and guinea pigs, National Institutes of Health)

The virus can also infect monkeys, dogs, field mice, guinea pigs, and hamsters, the latter an epidemiologically important host.

(Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Blockade of CCR3 in vivo inhibits eosinophil recruitment in response to eotaxin in both the guinea pig and mouse.

(Allergy Chemokine Network Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The Hartley guinea pig is used as an animal model for studying human diseases and toxins harmful to man, as well as the development of serums and vaccines.

(Hartley Guinea Pig, NCI Thesaurus)

The skin of the Hartley Hairless guinea pig resembles many physical and physiological aspects of human skin and spontaneous formation of melanoma is common to this strain.

(Hartley Albino Hairless Guinea Pig, NCI Thesaurus)

C. paraputrificum is pathogenic in humans but not in rabbits or guinea pigs.

(Clostridium paraputrificum, NCI Thesaurus)

When the session with the guinea pigs began, however, skin conductance levels among the children with ASDs dropped significantly.

(Animals’ presence may ease social anxiety in kids with autism, NIH)

Everybody's health was proposed, from Mr. Laurence, who was considered their special patron, to the astonished guinea pig, who had strayed from its proper sphere in search of its young master.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The most common species is Cavia porcellus which is the domesticated guinea pig used for pets and biomedical research.

(Guinea Pig, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)