echolocate

American  

[ek-oh-loh-keyt] / ˌɛk oʊˈloʊ keɪt /

verb (used with object)

1. to identify where something is located based on the time it takes an echo to return and the direction from which it returns, a specialized technique used by a number of animals, including dolphins and bats.

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Etymology

Origin of echolocate

First recorded in 1940–45 as a radar term; echo ( def. ) + locate ( def. )

Example Sentences

So owners compete to lure the swiftlets by playing recordings of the clicking sounds they make as they echolocate.

From New York Times

Bottlenose dolphins possess impressive senses, not least of which is their bat-like ability to echolocate — or blast soundwaves to detect prey and other objects.

From Salon

"We took fine measurements of that inner ear bone and compared it with that in the bats that do echolocate today and bats that don't, and it sits in the middle of the ones that echolocate."

From Science Daily

Not all bats echolocate, Prof. Hand explains.

From Science Daily

Salamanders whipping out sticky tongues longer than their bodies to snag insects; snakes “smelling” their environment with their forked tongue tips; hummingbirds slurping nectar from deep inside flowers; bats clicking their tongues to echolocate—all show how tongues have enabled vertebrates to exploit every terrestrial nook and cranny.

From Science Magazine