armadillo

[ ahr-muh-dil-oh ]

noun

, plural ar·ma·dil·los.

1. any of several burrowing, chiefly nocturnal mammals constituting the family Dasypodidae, ranging from the southern U.S. through South America, having strong claws and a jointed protective covering of bony plates: used in certain areas for food.

armadillo

/ ˌɑːməˈdɪləʊ /

noun

1. any edentate mammal of the family Dasypodidae of Central and South America and S North America, such as Priodontes giganteus ( giant armadillo ). They are burrowing animals, with peglike rootless teeth and a covering of strong horny plates over most of the body
2. fairy armadillo
   another name for pichiciego

Word History and Origins

Origin of armadillo¹

1570–80; < Spanish, equivalent to armad ( o ) armed (< Latin armātus; arm ², -ate ¹ ) + -illo < Latin -illus diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of armadillo¹

C16: from Spanish, diminutive of armado armed (man), from Latin armātus armed; compare armada

Example Sentences

In North America, horses, camels, giant armadillos, mammoths, and ground sloths declined and disappeared from 15,000 to 11,500 years ago, followed by extinctions in South America 14,000 to 8,000 years ago.

From Singularity Hub 

For example, a recent news story in the Guardian about armadillos “besieging” North Carolina described them as “pests” and “freakish.”

From Vox

Anyone whom the MAGA base suspects of being a RINO is a dead armadillo now.

From The Daily Beast

As liberal columnist and Texan Jim Hightower put it decades ago, there’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.

From The Daily Beast

Today, the remaining transplants from South America include animals like porcupines, armadillos and opossums.

From Science News

Nicaragua: Nicaragua boasts not one, but two species of everyone's favorite armored mammal, the armadillo.

From The Daily Beast

And, like a true critic, Menkes dwelled for a moment on the centerpiece of that collection, the infamous Armadillo boot.

From The Daily Beast

How Alexander McQueen's "armadillo boots" charmed Lady Gaga, Daphne Guinness, and Barbie.

From The Daily Beast

When you were doing the interview, David, were you aware of just how thick skinned, how armored, he was like an armadillo?

From The Daily Beast

He is called the weasel armadillo, because his head is nearly of the same form as a weasel.

From Project Gutenberg

Armadillo, rm-a-dil′o, n. a small American edentate quadruped, having its body armed with bands of bony plates:—pl.

From Project Gutenberg

Seeing this, I seized the tail firmly; and, giving it a sudden jerk, swung the armadillo out between the feet of my companion.

From Project Gutenberg

The armadillo dislikes snakes as much as all true knights disliked dragons.

From Project Gutenberg

The little Armadillo sleeps in a warm barrel, furnished with bran and flannel.

From Project Gutenberg