aye-aye

American  

[ahy-ahy] / ˈaɪˌaɪ /

noun

1. an endangered species of omnivorous lemur, Daubentonia madagascariensis, the world’s largest nocturnal primate, having rodentlike incisors and long fingers: its extremely rare foraging technique involves gnawing small holes in trees and extracting grubs with its distinctly thin middle finger.

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aye-aye British  

/ ˈaɪˌaɪ /

noun

1. a rare nocturnal arboreal prosimian primate of Madagascar, Daubentonia madagascariensis , related to the lemurs: family Daubentoniidae. It has long bony fingers and rodent-like incisor teeth adapted for feeding on insect larvae and bamboo pith

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Etymology

Origin of aye-aye

First recorded in 1775–85; from French, from Malagasy aiay, probably imitative of its cry

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aye-aye

Like many primates, the aye-aye uses play to teach her babies everything they'll need to know to become independent.

From Salon ● May 11, 2025

But if there’s a champion nose-picker, it’s got to be the aye-aye.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 1, 2022

It wasn't just any lemur; an aye-aye was filmed by Prof Anne-Claire Fabre from the University of Bern burying its elongated finger in its nostril.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2022

Certain primates like the aye-aye lemur have an extra thumb-like digit as well.

From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022

This curious combination of characters shows that the aye-aye is a very specialized form—that is, one whose organization has been slowly modified to fit it for a peculiar mode of life.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 344, August 5, 1882 by Various