carnivore

American  

[kahr-nuh-vawr] / ˈkɑr nəˌvɔr /

noun

carnivores plural

1. any mammal of the order Carnivora that eats meat, fish, or other flesh, especially as its primary source of food: a category of mammals that includes dogs, cats, bears, seals, and weasels.

2. any animal that eats meat, fish, etc., especially as its primary source of food; meat-eater.

   alligators, snakes, and other reptilian carnivores.

3. any plant that traps and feeds on insects and/or arachnids, such as a Venus flytrap.

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carnivore British  

/ ˈkɑːnɪˌvɔː /

noun

1. any placental mammal of the order Carnivora, typically having large pointed canine teeth and sharp molars and premolars, specialized for eating flesh. The order includes cats, dogs, bears, raccoons, hyenas, civets, and weasels

2. any other animal or any plant that feeds on animals

3. informal an aggressively ambitious person

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carnivore Scientific  

/ kär′nə-vôr′ /

1. 1. An animal that feeds chiefly on the flesh of other animals. Carnivores include predators such as lions and alligators, and scavengers such as hyenas and vultures. In a food chain, carnivores are either secondary or tertiary consumers.

   2. Any of various generally meat-eating mammals of the order Carnivora. Carnivores have large, sharp canine teeth and large brains, and the musculoskeletal structure of their forelimbs permits great flexibility for springing at prey. Many carnivores remain in and defend a single territory. Dogs, cats, bears, weasels, raccoons, hyenas, and (according to some classifications) seals and walruses are all carnivores.

2. A plant that eats insects, such as a Venus flytrap.

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carnivore Cultural  

1. A living thing that eats meat. Among mammals, there is an order of carnivores, including primarily meat-eating animals such as tigers and dogs. Some plants, such as the Venus's-flytrap, are carnivores.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• carnivoral
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• carnivores
  plural

Etymology

Origin of carnivore

First recorded in 1850–55; from French, from Latin carnivorus carnivorous

Explanation

A carnivore is something that feeds on the flesh of animals. “Did you know that cute little baby seals are carnivores? They eat penguins!” It’s a useful thing to be acquainted with the root vore, which means eat, because you can get herbivore (eats plants), omnivore (eats everything), and sanguivore (eats blood, yes, like vampires). It’s nice to know, too, that it’s not only animals that are carnivores. Some plants, like the Venus flytrap, eat insects, which makes them carnivores as well. It’s nice, too, to have the prefix of carnivore, carn or flesh, in your mind. The easiest way to remember it? Chili con carne, or chili with meat.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carnivore carnivores

After detailed analysis, they concluded the marks had been left by a large carnivore, possibly a bear, rather than humans.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026

On a USA Today podcast earlier this year, Kennedy said he lost 40% of his visceral body fat within a month of following the carnivore diet.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

Concern about health misinformation has been growing, with vaccination rates falling and extreme diets, such as the carnivore diet, increasing in popularity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

"In North America and worldwide, carnivore communities are undergoing major changes," said Wesley Binder, a doctoral student at Oregon State University and lead author of the study.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026

If instead you want to grow 1,000 pounds of carnivore, you have to feed it 10,000 pounds of herbivore grown on 100,000 pounds of corn.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Leopards are among the most widespread large carnivores in the world, found across Africa and parts of Asia.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026

Cougars, however, rarely scavenge from other carnivores and are skilled hunters on their own, leaving scientists uncertain about what truly shapes their interactions with wolves.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026

They often compensate villagers when carnivores kill their livestock or herbivores eat their crops.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

“I really do want to work with large carnivores, tigers, lions ... you know, the things that can kill me,” Carnicella said with a laugh.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025

Gethenians are not a hunting people, because there is very little to hunt—no large herbivores, thus no large carnivores, except in the teeming seas.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• carnivorous
• flesh-eating
• meat-eating