granivorous

American  

[gruh-niv-er-uhs] / grəˈnɪv ər əs /

adjective

1. (of an animal, especially a bird) eating grain and seeds.

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granivorous British  

/ ɡræˈnɪvərəs /

adjective

1. (of animals) feeding on seeds and grain

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Other Word Forms

• granivore
  noun

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Etymology

Origin of granivorous

First recorded in 1640–50; grani- ( def. ) + -vorous ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

granivorous

This is a general practice with the granivorous tribes, in order to provide their young with soft and digestible food before they are strong enough to digest the hard, coriaceous seed.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 03, No. 17, March, 1859 by Various

The Professorin added in continuation:— "But yet the granivorous birds are no more virtuous than the insectivorous; each kind lives in accordance with its own law."

From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Berthold Auerbach

If Shakespeare had made the house sparrow, or the blackbird, or the bunting, or any of the granivorous, hard-billed birds, the foster-parent of the cuckoo, his natural history would have been at fault.

From The Writings of John Burroughs — Volume 05: Pepacton by John Burroughs

Seed′-drill, a machine for sowing seed in rows; Seed′-eat′er, a granivorous bird.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

In fact, there are few of the granivorous animals that may not be brought to be carnivorous.

From A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 New Edition with Introduction, Notes, and Illustrations by J. B. Tyrrell

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