armadillo

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of several omnivorous, burrowing, edentate mammals (family Dasypodidae), native to southern North America and South America and characterized by an armorlike covering consisting of jointed bony plates.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An American edentate quadruped, of the order Bruta (or Edentata) and suborder Loricata, and of the extant families Tatusiidœ, Dasypodidœ, and Chlamydophoridœ, or of the extinct family Glyptodontidœ, having a hard shell or carapace like a coat of mail, resulting from a peculiar ossification of the integument and the confluence of numerous small scutes. In the glyptodons the carapace was entire and fixed, and even in some cases covered the belly as well as the back; but in all the living armadillos the shell is divided into an anterior, a posterior, and an entire or variously divided middle part. When the division of the middle part is complete, the animal can roll itself into a ball. The teeth are numerous, but vary in number and other characteristics with the several genera; in the genus Prionodoutes they are a hundred in number. The peba is an armadillo of the family Tatusiidœ, the Tatusia novemeineta, the only one of the group found as far north as the United States. There are other species. The encouberts are the typical armadillos of the family Dasypodidœ. The peludo is Dasypus villosus. The kabassous constitute the genus Xenurus. The kabalasson is Priodontes gigas. The apars are the three-banded armadillos, of the genns Tolypeutes. The pichiciagos constitute the family Chlamydophoridœ; they are the smallest and most peculiar forms, being less than a foot long, while the kabalassou is three feet long without the tail. All these animals are mild, timid, and inoffensive, subsisting on roots, leaves, and fruits, sometimes on insects or flesh. They are able to dig into the ground with great rapidity, and escape from their enemies in this way as well as by rolling up in a ball. The flesh is considered good for food.
2. n. In Crustacea: A genus of isopods, of the family Oniscidœ, including the pillbugs, which can roll themselves into a ball like the mammals called armadillos.
3. n. A species of this genus; a pill-bug or sow-bug; a kind of wood-louse.
4. n. A name given to an electric battery composed of copper and zinc elements riveted together, and designed to be worn as a remedy in certain diseases.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any of a family of burrowing mammals covered with bony, jointed, protective plates, genus Dasypus.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Any edentate animal if the family Dasypidæ, peculiar to America. The body and head are incased in an armor composed of small bony plates. The armadillos burrow in the earth, seldom going abroad except at night. When attacked, they curl up into a ball, presenting the armor on all sides. Their flesh is good food. There are several species, one of which (the peba) is found as far north as Texas. See peba, poyou, tatouay.
2. n. A genus of small isopod Crustacea that can roll themselves into a ball.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. burrowing chiefly nocturnal mammal with body covered with strong horny plates