edentate
Americanadjective
-
belonging or pertaining to the Edentata, an order of New World mammals characterized by the absence of incisors and canines in the arrangement of teeth and comprising the armadillos, the sloths, and the South American anteaters.
noun
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of edentate
First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin ēdentātus, past participle of ēdentāre “to knock the teeth out”; equivalent to ē- variant of ex- “out of” + dent- (stem of dēns ) “tooth” + -ātus past participle ending of first conjugation verbs; see origin at e- 1, tooth, -ate 1
Vocabulary lists containing edentate
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.
Armadillo, �rm-a-dil′o, n. a small American edentate quadruped, having its body armed with bands of bony plates:—pl.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
The palatine is small, curved anteriorly and edentate.
From The Systematics of the Frogs of the Hyla Rubra Group in Middle America by león, Juan R.
I tried to call to him to move; but how could a poor edentate like myself articulate a word?
From Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet An Autobiography by Hughes, Thomas
An edentate mammal, of the genus Orycteropus, somewhat resembling a pig, common in some parts of Southern Africa.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah
They are however without teeth only in the front of the jaw in all, but with a few molars in some, the Indian forms however are truly edentate, having no teeth at all.
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage
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.
