CARNIVORE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does carnivore mean? 

• CARNIVORE (noun)
  The noun CARNIVORE has 2 senses:

1. a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal

2. any animal that feeds on flesh

  Familiarity information: CARNIVORE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CARNIVORE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Context example:

terrestrial carnivores have four or five clawed digits on each limb

Hypernyms ("carnivore" is a kind of...):

eutherian; eutherian mammal; placental; placental mammal (mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "carnivore"):

fissiped; fissiped mammal (terrestrial carnivores; having toes separated to the base: dogs; cats; bears; badgers; raccoons)

canid; canine (any of various fissiped mammals with nonretractile claws and typically long muzzles)

felid; feline (any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws)

bear (massive plantigrade carnivorous or omnivorous mammals with long shaggy coats and strong claws)

viverrine; viverrine mammal (small cat-like predatory mammals of warmer parts of the Old World)

mustelid; musteline; musteline mammal (fissiped fur-bearing carnivorous mammals)

procyonid (plantigrade carnivorous mammals)

Holonyms ("carnivore" is a member of...):

Carnivora; order Carnivora (cats; lions; tigers; panthers; dogs; wolves; jackals; bears; raccoons; skunks; and members of the suborder Pinnipedia)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any animal that feeds on flesh

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Context example:

insectivorous plants are considered carnivores

Hypernyms ("carnivore" is a kind of...):

predator; predatory animal (any animal that lives by preying on other animals)

 Context examples 

The domestic cat, Felis catus, of the carnivore family Felidae, comprising over 30 different breeds.

(Cat, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

By the shape of its teeth, scientists believe they were carnivores and ate fish.

(Brazil and China scientists unearth pterosaur eggs with preserved embryos, Agência Brasil)

The shift from hyaenodonts to modern carnivores in Africa is like a controlled experiment.

(Fossil discovery in Tanzania reveals ancient bobcat-sized carnivore, National Science Foundation)

Tasmanian devils are marsupial carnivores endemic to the Australian island of Tasmania.

(Human anti-cancer drugs could help treat transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils, University of Cambridge)

Beard said that the two newly described fossil marsupials lived atop the food chain because other carnivores were unable to reach the small island.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)

The fossil gives paleontologists a glimpse of hyaenodont anatomy before modern carnivores invaded the continent, revealing that Pakakali was about the size of a bobcat.

(Fossil discovery in Tanzania reveals ancient bobcat-sized carnivore, National Science Foundation)