Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several Central and South American mammals of the suborder Vermilingua that lack teeth and feed on ants and termites, especially the giant anteater.
- noun Any of several other animals, including the echidna, aardvark, and pangolin, that feed on ants.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of several animals, in suborder
Vermilingua , which are noted for eatingants andtermites which they catch with their long stickytongues . - noun A common term used of some other unrelated species that feed with ants, including
pangolin (scaly anteater ),echidna (spiny anteater ),aardvark andnumbat (banded anteater ).
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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We've only visited the zoo once since we moved here, but the anteater is one of the animals I recall in particular.
"I used to be somebody. Now I'm somebody else." greygirlbeast 2010
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We've only visited the zoo once since we moved here, but the anteater is one of the animals I recall in particular.
"I used to be somebody. Now I'm somebody else." greygirlbeast 2010
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I found that one thing Audrey told me was true - on the phone Hugh sounded like the blue anteater from the old Pink Panther show.
Sad Weekend deep_bluze 2004
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Except - the anteater was a cad, and Hugh was likely the finest man I'll ever meet.
Sad Weekend deep_bluze 2004
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I thought the ad was cleverly written and produced (the anteater was a cute touch) ... and utterly horrifying.
Infinite Monkeys - "...a sparkly blog..." - James Lileks Ben 2010
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The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus, VU) is a marsupial 'anteater' that is the only member of its entire family.
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The Greek Echidna, the mother of monsters, identifies herself to the story's hero, Percy and he says, "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"
A Brief Sea Change appleleaf 2008
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For example, a tamandua, a kind of anteater, uses its long and curled claws to dig into insect mounds.
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For example, a tamandua, a kind of anteater, uses its long and curled claws to dig into insect mounds.
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Sweden s Parken Zoo welcomed a baby giant anteater last month.
WATCH: Adorable Baby Giant Anteater Born The Huffington Post 2011
chained_bear commented on the word anteater
Usage note:
"...leaving them on a broad veranda with a number of domesticated creatures on it, marmosets of three different kinds, an old bald toucan, a row of sleepy parrots, something hairy in the background that might have been a sloth or an anteater or even a doormat but that it farted from time to time, looking around censoriously on each occasion, and a strikingly elegant blue heron that walked in and out."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Far Side of the World, 177
February 21, 2008
whichbe commented on the word anteater
Anteaters prefer termites to ants.
May 7, 2008