ichneumon
Also called African mongoose, Egyptian mongoose . a slender, long-tailed mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, inhabiting Africa and southern Europe, and believed by the ancient Egyptians to devour crocodile eggs.
Origin of ichneumon
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ichneumon in a sentence
I also saw several battles between large serpents and ichneumons.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida PfeifferBow traps are placed along the tracks of civets, ichneumons, and rodents, which snap and strangle them.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles MorrisSome of the ichneumons even bore into trees in order to deposit their eggs in the larv of wood-boring insects.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterWe find others, the ichneumons for example, which are perfectly at liberty in their old age, but require protection while young.
Animal Parasites and Messmates | P. J. Van BenedenIn this case, the embryos themselves go to seek for their host, and unlike the ichneumons, they use them with moderation.
Animal Parasites and Messmates | P. J. Van Beneden
British Dictionary definitions for ichneumon
/ (ɪkˈnjuːmən) /
a mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, of Africa and S Europe, having greyish-brown speckled fur
Origin of ichneumon
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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