lem·ming / ˈleming/ • n. a small, short-tailed, thickset rodent (Lemmus, Dicrostonyx, and other genera, family Muridae) found in the Arctic tundra. The Norway lemming (L. lemmus) is noted for its fluctuating populations and periodic mass migrations. ∎  a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement, esp. a headlong rush to destruction.

Lemming ★★ 2005

Moll's French puzzler involves the creature of the title—a Scandinavian lemming that somehow finds itself clogging up the French plumbing of computer gadget designer Alain (Lucas) and his wife Benedicte (Gainsbourg). Naturally this happens during a dinner party for Alain's boss, Richard (Dussollier), and his very difficult wife, Alice (Rampling). Alain's life goes from ordinary and pleasant to sinister and unsettled but the flick offers more questions than solutions. French with subtitles. 129m/C DVD . FR FR Laurent Lucas, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charlotte Rampling, Andre Dussollier, Jacques Bonnaffe, Veronique Affholder; D: Dominik Moll; W: Dominik Moll, Gilles Marchand; C: Jean-Marc Fabre; M: David Whitaker.

lemming a small, short-tailed, thickset rodent of the Arctic tundra. The Norway lemming is noted for its fluctuating populations and periodic mass migrations, and from this lemming is used to denote a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement, especially a headlong rush to destruction.

lemming Any of several species of herbivorous rodents, native to Arctic regions. They have brown fur, small ears, and a short tail. They occasionally migrate in large numbers when numbers are high, and some species have been known to suffer great losses by drowning while doing so. Family Cricetidae.

lemming (Lemmus) See CRICETIDAE.