Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An animal that feeds upon ants: a name applied to several mammals and birds.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) One of several species of edentates and monotremes that feed upon ants. See ant-bear, pangolin, aard-vark, and echidna.

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

  • noun Alternative spelling of anteater.

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

  • noun nocturnal burrowing mammal of the grasslands of Africa that feeds on termites; sole extant representative of the order Tubulidentata
  • noun a burrowing monotreme mammal covered with spines and having a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termites; native to Australia
  • noun any of several tropical American mammals of the family Myrmecophagidae which lack teeth and feed on ants and termites
  • noun a burrowing monotreme mammal covered with spines and having a long snout and claws for hunting ants and termites; native to New Guinea
  • noun toothless mammal of southern Africa and Asia having a body covered with horny scales and a long snout for feeding on ants and termites
  • noun small Australian marsupial having long snout and strong claws for feeding on termites; nearly extinct

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Angela Carter has her moments of mischief in the midst of the gothic, and so does Tanith Lee giant ant-eater, anyone?

    Weirdly Funny 2010

  • I'm rather of the opinion that the second to last pic looks like an ant-eater.

    Why Beat a Dead Horse... Jen 2009

  • It shelters rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, such as the giant otter and giant ant-eater.

    Iguacu National Park, Brazil 2008

  • Spilett killed two kangaroos with bows and arrows, and also an animal which strongly resembled both a hedgehog and an ant-eater.

    The Mysterious Island 2005

  • Spilett killed two kangaroos with bows and arrows, and also an animal which strongly resembled both a hedgehog and an ant-eater.

    The Mysterious Island 2005

  • Fortunately the dogs had found, and Nuflo had succeeded in killing, a great ant-eater, so that we were well supplied with excellent, strength-giving flesh.

    Green Mansions 2004

  • The general way of catching them is to dig into the ant-hill, and wait till the builders come forth to repair the damage, then brush them off quickly into a vessel, as the ant-eater does into his mouth.

    Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 2004

  • We observed that, wherever an ant-eater had made his hole, shells were thrown out with the earth, identical with those now alive in the lake.

    Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa 2004

  • He was a newspaper man from Kansas City, a lean, light-haired man with what Meredith called an adventurous nose; one could almost fancy it found its way by feeling its way and moved like the proboscis of an ant-eater.

    The Complete Father Brown 2003

  • The hand had struck as straight as a striking snake; as instantaneous as the flick of the long tongue of an ant-eater.

    The Complete Father Brown 2003

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