herbivore

American  

[hur-buh-vawr, -vohr] / ˈhɜr bəˌvɔr, -ˌvoʊr /

noun

• herbivores
  plural

1. a herbivorous animal.

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herbivore British  

/ ˈhɜːbɪˌvɔː /

noun

1. an animal that feeds on grass and other plants

2. informal a liberal, idealistic, or nonmaterialistic person

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herbivore Scientific  

/ hûr′bə-vôr′,ûr′- /

1. An animal that feeds mainly or only on plants. In a food chain, herbivores are primary consumers.

2. Compare carnivore detritivore

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herbivore Cultural  

1. A living thing that eats only plants. Cattle, sheep, and horses are herbivores.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• herbivores
  plural

Etymology

Origin of herbivore

1850–55; < New Latin herbivorus; see herb, -i-, -vore

Explanation

Given a choice between a sirloin steak and a pile of grass, an herbivore will take the grass every time. If grass isn't on the menu, a salad will do. Herbivores eat plants. The herb in herbivore reminds you that herbivores eat plants rather than other animals. If you know any giraffes, deer, or vegetarians, you might have some herbivore friends. If you have a friend named Herb, let him know he's safe around them. Unless Herb is your favorite houseplant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

herbivore herbivores

Guillermo Deferrari, of Ushuaia's scientific research center, downplayed the landfill theory, explaining that the colilargo is herbivore and lives off seeds and fruit found in forested ecosystems, not in dumps, where the common rat feeds.

From Barron's ● May 12, 2026

Students must do a training stint in each of four main categories — carnivore, herbivore, bird and primate — so they may wind up working with animals they find unpleasant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 11, 2025

The medium-sized herbivore once roamed the floodplains of what is now the island's south-west coast.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025

The newest — described on Thursday by a team of researchers in the journal PeerJ — is Lokiceratops rangiformis, a five-ton herbivore with spectacular, curving brow horns and huge, bladed spikes on its meter-long frill.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024

But Americans pronounce the h in herbaceous, herbicide, and herbivore.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

They’re the base of the aquatic food chain, fed on by herbivores of all shapes and sizes, including shrimp and juvenile fish, which in turn feed organisms higher up the food chain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026

Additional data on large herbivores and historical climate conditions helped the team evaluate whether environmental changes or other factors contributed to the site's abandonment.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

The team believes giant prey animals may have triggered an "evolutionary arms race" in which predators evolved stronger jaws and skulls to overpower increasingly massive herbivores.

From Science Daily ● May 20, 2026

Mr Moat said "nothing is working as it should" in the landscape, which has lost beavers and bison, herds of wild boar and big herbivores.

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025

It has been found that animals, both wild herbivores and livestock, are sometimes strangely attracted to a plant that has been sprayed, even though it is not one of their natural foods.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• fruitarian
• vegan
• vegetarian