1
: the durable usually light brown fur of a nutria
2
: a large South American semiaquatic rodent (Myocastor coypus) with webbed hind feet and a round nearly hairless tail that has been introduced into parts of Europe, Asia, and North America
Examples of nutria in a Sentence
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When the nutria fur market collapsed in the 1940s, ranchers released thousands of nutria into the wild.
—
Sam Gillette, People.com, 6 Mar. 2025
The agency said those who want to eat nutria can try gumbo recipes.
—Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025
He was, in fact, featured in a 2020 episode of National Geographic’s Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, taking the celebrity chef to the Bird’s Foot to hunt nutria, a beaverlike rodent native to South America that has proliferated in southern marshes.
—Bywarren Cornwall, science.org, 9 Jan. 2025
To be clear, these population estimates of exotica do not count the many millions of other, less welcome and nonnative mammals, such as feral hogs, nutria, black rats, brown rats or house mice that were introduced to Texas, on purpose or by accident.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Sep. 2024
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Sam Gillette, People.com, 6 Mar. 2025
The agency said those who want to eat nutria can try gumbo recipes.
—Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2025
He was, in fact, featured in a 2020 episode of National Geographic’s Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, taking the celebrity chef to the Bird’s Foot to hunt nutria, a beaverlike rodent native to South America that has proliferated in southern marshes.
—Bywarren Cornwall, science.org, 9 Jan. 2025
To be clear, these population estimates of exotica do not count the many millions of other, less welcome and nonnative mammals, such as feral hogs, nutria, black rats, brown rats or house mice that were introduced to Texas, on purpose or by accident.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 9 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for nutria
Cite this Entry
“Nutria.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nutria. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nutria
noun
nu·tria
ˈn(y)ü-trē-ə 
: a South American rodent that lives in or near water, has webbed feet and a nearly hairless tail, and has been introduced into the U.S. along the Gulf Coast and in the Pacific Northwest
called also coypu
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