: any of various small rodents (Microtus and related genera) that typically have a stout body, rather blunt nose, and short ears, inhabit both moist meadows and dry uplands and do much damage to crops, and are closely related to muskrats and lemmings
Examples of vole in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jon Waterman, Outside Online, 22 Oct. 2024
Like, stink bugs and cockroaches, scorpions, ticks, bees, beetles and borers and aphids, snails and mice and voles.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 18 Sep. 2024
If small critters like voles and mice are problematic in your garden, take steps to protect tender hosta stems and crowns, which can become a cold-weather buffet for these animals.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2024
Send too tall turf into winter, and voles, moles, and other rodents may take up residence in the thick, inviting grassy coverage.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for vole 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
Shards of caribou bones and antlers lie on the tundra as ghostly business cards of a bygone migration, greened with mold, and minutely chiseled and mined for calcium by tiny vole teeth.
—Jon Waterman, Outside Online, 22 Oct. 2024
Like, stink bugs and cockroaches, scorpions, ticks, bees, beetles and borers and aphids, snails and mice and voles.
—Steve Bender, Southern Living, 18 Sep. 2024
If small critters like voles and mice are problematic in your garden, take steps to protect tender hosta stems and crowns, which can become a cold-weather buffet for these animals.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2024
Send too tall turf into winter, and voles, moles, and other rodents may take up residence in the thick, inviting grassy coverage.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for vole
Dictionary Entries Near vole
Cite this Entry
“Vole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vole. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
vole
noun
: any of various small rodents (family Cricetidae and especially genus Microtus) that typically have a stout body, rather blunt nose, and short ears, that inhabit both moist meadows and dry uplands and do much damage to crops, and that are closely related to muskrats and lemmings but in general resemble stocky mice or rats
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share