digitigrade

[ dij-i-ti-greyd ]

adjective

walking on the toes, as most quadruped mammals.

noun

a digitigrade animal.

Origin of digitigrade

From French, dating back to 1825–35; see origin at digiti-, -grade

Words Nearby digitigrade

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use digitigrade in a sentence

It is digitigrade: it has five toes on the fore, and four toes on its hinder feet; its marsupial bones are simply rudimental.
The Desert World | Arthur Mangin
The feet are digitigrade, usually with five (in one instance four) front and always four hind-toes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 | Various
The much persecuted otter presents himself to our notice among the worm-bodied, digitigrade animals.
Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals | R. Lee
The pes is digitigrade or plantigrade, and has three, rarely four, digits.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
The feet are digitigrade and provided with long pointed claws.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for digitigrade

digitigrade

/ (ˈdɪdʒɪtɪˌɡreɪd) /

adjective

(of dogs, cats, horses, etc) walking so that only the toes touch the ground

noun

a digitigrade animal

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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