Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A diurnal marsupial (Myrmecobius fasciatus) of western Australia, having black and white stripes and a long bushy tail, and feeding primarily on termites.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A small marsupial carnivore endemic to western Australia that eats almost exclusively termites; Myrmecobius fasciatus. Formerly also known as banded anteater.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun small Australian marsupial having long snout and strong claws for feeding on termites; nearly extinct

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Nyungar (Pama-Nyungan language of southwestern Australia) numbad.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • A small rare termite-eating marsupial, Myrmecobius fasciatus, native to south-western Australia, having a pointed snout, bushy tail, and red-brown fur with white stripes across the back and hindquarters. Also called banded anteater.

    February 16, 2007

  • Somehow, I pictured numbat as more of a sloth (relating numbness to slowness).

    September 5, 2008

  • Like a wombat, but tastier.

    September 5, 2008

  • Like a cricketbat but testier.

    September 5, 2008

  • I picture it as a bat with carpal tunnel syndrome.

    September 5, 2008