How to Use vole in a Sentence

vole

noun
Definition of volenext
  • The bereft vole will eagerly press the lever to reunite.
    — Florence Williams, The Atlantic, 1 Feb. 2022
  • But the Ice Age event left little mark on moles, voles, frogs, trees, shrubs, and grasses.
    — Robert Baker, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2019
  • The only critter that would consume the entire root of a carrot and not the top is a vole.
    — Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 19 May 2021
  • The pen with the multitude of voles simulates a boom year.
    — Bathsheba Demuth, The Atlantic, 4 Jan. 2024
  • When a prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) finds a mate, the two form a strong bond.
    — Breanna Draxler, Discover Magazine, 4 June 2013
  • And a vole is a field mouse, constantly prowling for food.
    — Gary Gilson, Star Tribune, 14 Nov. 2020
  • There are a few culprits that could be doing this – gophers, voles or mice.
    — oregonlive, 24 June 2023
  • This means, of course, that those with vole damage should wait before attempting to clean up and reseed the tracks.
    — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Apr. 2023
  • Some creatures — like mice, shrews, and voles — spend most of their time under the snow, in subnivean tunnels in the layer between the ground and the snowpack.
    — Sofia Quaglia, Discover Magazine, 6 Dec. 2023
  • These stealthy predators eat their fair share of rabbits, but will also hunt for mice, voles and birds when rabbits run scarce.
    — Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 25 July 2023
  • In an abundant garden, the presence of voles may often mean some losses.
    — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Mice and voles were often on the menu, as were birds ranging from the tiny Wilson’s warbler to the much larger black-headed grosbeak.
    — Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023
  • And near the plant, researchers previously found that birds, bank voles and bees suffered from health problems, per the Atlantic.
    — Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Unlike other owls that hunt with their sharp hearing at night, northern hawk owls hunt from a perch during the day, watching for voles or other birds to swoop down on.
    — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 June 2023
  • These included everything from pine trees to grasshoppers and voles.
    — Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Poised for attack and staring intently, this Great Grey Owl has fixed its penetrating gaze on a vole in a Swedish forest.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021
  • Despite the new species’ scientific name, the researchers say the animal more closely resembles a shrew or vole than a mouse.
    — Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Mice and voles living on the land drew foxes and migratory raptors such as kestrels and harriers, who feasted on the cornucopia each time the grass was mowed.
    — Cara Buckley, New York Times, 13 Dec. 2023
  • However, voles, etc., do not necessarily have the same taste buds as humans.
    — oregonlive, 1 Apr. 2023
  • On a larger scale, a good snowfall really helps bigger animals: the shrews, voles and mice who use the cover to avoid being eaten by owls and other predators.
    — Jeff Lowenfels | Alaska Gardening and Growing, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Mar. 2023
  • The researchers found the skin cells from the Chernobyl bank voles were able to sustain higher doses and had, on average, higher antioxidant levels.
    — Monique Brouillette, Popular Mechanics, 6 July 2023
  • One example of this protective mechanism is in a small rodent called a bank vole, which is prevalent throughout the Chernobyl region.
    — Monique Brouillette, Popular Mechanics, 6 July 2023
  • Christopher Lutter-Gardella spied the limp gray vole on a patch of dirt in his backyard, picked it up by the tail and regarded its killer: his cat prowling the gardens at his Minneapolis home in the Powderhorn neighborhood.
    — Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune, 11 Sep. 2020
  • Almost as soon as it’s built, a stone wall is inhabited by insects—a key indicator of biodiversity—and small animals such as voles, chipmunks, and wrens.
    — Hannah Kirshner, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2023
  • Protection around overwintering peas is needed in addition to the polytunnel itself—not so much for protection from cold but more for protection from creatures like mice and voles.
    — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 24 Sep. 2023
  • In prairie voles, for example — which intrigue researchers for their monogamous behavior, rare in rodents — this shift facilitates pair-bonding.
    — Bob Holmes, Discover Magazine, 18 Feb. 2023
  • Four years later, in 2023, the team found no evidence of mink reproduction throughout the study area, and the water vole population in Norfolk and Suffolk had significantly increased, compared to in other regions where traps weren’t set.
    — Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Red tree vole populations have been devastated by logging, wildfires and inadequate protections on state and private lands.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 4 Apr. 2021
  • In prairie voles, for example, how mates bond with one another and their children is also associated with different levels of oxytocin and vasopressin, another hormone linked to social behavior and bonding.
    — Katherine Harmon Courage, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2015
  • Insel was brilliantly successful, famous for illuminating the role of the hormone oxytocin in eliciting bonding behavior in voles—an important finding in the emerging field of social neuroscience.
    — George Makari, The New Yorker, 13 July 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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