Hamster

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hamster \Ham"ster\ (-st[~e]r), n. [G. hamster.] (Zool.)
     A small European rodent ({Cricetus frumentarius}). It is
     remarkable for having a pouch on each side of the jaw, under
     the skin, and for its migrations. Hamsters are commonly kept
     as a pets.
     [1913 Webster +PJC]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hamster
       n : short-tailed Old World burrowing rodent with large cheek
           pouches

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  hamster n. 1. [Fairchild] A particularly slick little piece of code
     that does one thing well; a small, self-contained hack. The image is of
     a hamster {happily} spinning its exercise wheel. 2. A tailless mouse;
     that is, one with an infrared link to a receiver on the machine, as
     opposed to the conventional cable. 3. [UK] Any item of hardware made by
     Amstrad, a company famous for its cheap plastic PC-almost-compatibles.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  hamster
       
          1.  (From {Fairchild}) A particularly slick
          little piece of code that does one thing well; a small,
          self-contained hack.  The image is of a hamster {happily}
          spinning its exercise wheel.
       
          2.  A tailless mouse; that is, one with an infrared
          link to a receiver on the machine, as opposed to the
          conventional cable.
       
          3.  (UK) Any item of hardware made by {Amstrad}, a
          company famous for its cheap plastic PC-almost-compatibles.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1995-02-16)