chipmunk

1832; alteration (influenced by chipping squirrel) of earlier chitmunk, from older Ojibwe ačitamo˙nˀ (“squirrels”) (modern ajidamóóg), literally ‘those who descend headlong’, from ačit- (“headfirst, face-down”) (compare modern ajijibizo (“he falls headfirst”), ajidagoojin (“he hangs upside down”)). The verb developed due to the high-pitched voices of the American cartoon chipmunks in the group Alvin and the Chipmunks, who later starred in a popular children's TV show in the 1980s.

chipmunk (plural chipmunks)

1. A squirrel-like rodent of the genus Tamias, native mainly to North America.

• ground squirrel, striped squirrel

chipmunk (third-person singular simple present chipmunks, present participle chipmunking, simple past and past participle chipmunked)

1. To speed up an audio recording, especially a song, to make the voices high-pitched.
2. In competitive eating, to stuff food in one's mouth during the final moments of a contest.