411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
German rat
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Noun
en obsolete A hamster.
1817, Oliver Goldsmith, Thomas Brown, Goldsmith's History of the Earth, and Animated Nature (page 256)
The cricetus, or German rat, which Mr. Buffon calls the hamster, greatly resembles the water-rat in its size, small eyes, and the shortness of its tail.