anteater

anteater
a) Any of several animals, in suborder Vermilingua, which are noted for eating ants and termites which they catch with their long sticky tongues.
b) A common term used of some other unrelated species that feed with ants, including pangolin ("scaly anteater"), echidna ("spiny anteater"), aardvark and numbat ("banded anteater").

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  • anteater — (n.) 1764, in reference to the South American species; 1868 of the Australian echidna; from ANT (Cf. ant) + agent noun from EAT (Cf. eat) (v.) …   Etymology dictionary

  • anteater — ► NOUN ▪ a mammal with a long snout, feeding on ants and termites …   English terms dictionary

  • anteater — [ant′ēt΄ər] n. any of several mammals of various orders that feed mainly on ants, as the pangolins, echidnas, and esp. ant bears: anteaters have a long, sticky tongue and a long snout …   English World dictionary

  • anteater — /ant ee teuhr/, n. 1. any of several mammals of the family Myrmecophagidae, having a long, tapered snout, extensile tongue, and powerful front claws and feeding chiefly on ants and termites. Cf. giant anteater, silky anteater, tamandua. 2. the… …   Universalium

  • Anteater — Taxobox name = Anteaters image caption = Northern Tamandua ( Tamandua mexicana ) regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Mammalia superordo = Xenarthra ordo = Pilosa subordo = Vermilingua subordo authority = Illiger, 1811 subdivision ranks …   Wikipedia

  • anteater — /ˈæntitə / (say anteetuh) noun 1. any of the echidnas or spiny anteaters of Australia and New Guinea. 2. → numbat. 3. any of three edentates of tropical America, feeding chiefly on termites: a. the ant bear or great anteater. b. the tamandua or… …  

  • anteater — UK [ˈæntˌiːtə(r)] / US [ˈæntˌɪtər] noun [countable] Word forms anteater : singular anteater plural anteaters a tropical animal with a very long nose and tongue that eats ants and other small insects …   English dictionary

  • anteater — noun Date: 1764 any of several mammals that feed largely or entirely on ants or termites: as a. any of a family (Myrmecophagidae) of New World edentates with a long narrow snout, a long tongue, and large salivary glands that includes the giant… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • anteater — [[t]æ̱ntiːtə(r)[/t]] anteaters also ant eater N COUNT An anteater is an animal with a long nose that eats termites or ants. Anteaters live in warm countries …   English dictionary

  • Anteater (disambiguation) — Anteater properly refers to the four species of the suborder Vermilingua native to Mexico, Central America, and tropical South America. Anteater can also refer to any of several unrelated species which have independently and convergently adapted… …   Wikipedia

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