armadillo
Americannoun
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armadillos
plural
noun
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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
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another name for pichiciego
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of armadillo
1570–80; < Spanish, equivalent to armad ( o ) armed (< Latin armātus; see arm 2, -ate 1) + -illo < Latin -illus diminutive suffix
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Explanation
An armadillo is a four-legged animal with a rounded body that's covered in hard plates. You're most likely to see an armadillo in South or Central America, or possibly in the southern US. Armadillos range from the size of a chipmunk to as big as a large dog. They're nocturnal, so they mostly hunt for food at night and sleep during the day, and are excellent diggers, with very sharp claws. Armadillos are distinctive because of the bony plates that cover them and their protective habit of rolling into a ball. Armadillo is Spanish, the diminutive form of armado, or "armored."
Vocabulary lists containing armadillo
Amazing Animals, A-Z
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arm
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Keepers of the six-banded armadillo pair, native to South America, celebrated the milestone on Monday.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
It’s not a lazy river or an interactive armadillo zoo, but it’s a start.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2025
The transmission mechanism between zoonotic reservoirs and susceptible individuals is unknown, but it is strongly suspected that direct contact with an infected armadillo poses a significant risk of developing leprosy.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2024
"Take a crocodile from modern day, and turn it into an armadillo," said Reyes.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 18, 2024
In the locked cabinet on the shelf above the prize book was the gnarly stuffed armadillo, the worst example of taxidermy I had ever seen.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Mr. Kneale could have added to his list of creatures with which Floridians are willing to coexist: sharks, raccoons, armadillos, possums, rattlesnakes and bugs of every variety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
A zoo has marked the 19th birthday of a pair of armadillos this week.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
The creature is related to current armadillos, anteaters and sloths, though in contrast to some of its relatives, Mylodon did not burrow or climb trees.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2024
Animals such as capybaras and giant armadillos that wouldn't have ventured farther north used this strip of humid grassland to move from Mexico to Texas to Florida.
From Science Daily ● May 30, 2024
What if the small armadillos of today had arisen from a giant ancestral armadillo?
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
