anteater

[ ant-ee-ter ]

noun

1. any of several mammals of the family Myrmecophagidae, having a long, tapered snout, extensile tongue, and powerful front claws and feeding chiefly on ants and termites. Compare giant anteater, silky anteater, tamandua.
2. the aardvark.
3. a pangolin.
4. an echidna.
5. banded anteater.

anteater

/ ˈæntˌiːtə /

noun

1. See tamandua
   any toothless edentate mammal of the family Myrmecophagidae of Central and South America, esp Myrmecophaga tridactyla (or jubata ) ( giant anteater ), having a long tubular snout used for eating termites See also tamandua
2. See pangolin
   scaly anteater
   scaly anteater another name for pangolin
3. See echidna
   spiny anteater
   spiny anteater another name for echidna
4. See numbat
   banded anteater
   banded anteater another name for numbat

Word History and Origins

Origin of anteater¹

First recorded in 1755–65; ant + eat ( def )

Example Sentences

Other animals, such as anteaters and opossums, also have been infected.

From Science News For Students

For good measure, they also threw in a coronavirus found in a scaly anteater known as a pangolin.

From MIT Technology Review

Researchers have documented that the virus can infect 51 species, including apes and monkeys, and other animals including anteaters, porcupines and opossums.

From Science News

The team compared these with samples from living sloths, anteaters and other modern omnivores.

From Science News