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

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Etymology

Origin of herbivore

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

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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

Rahel, standing on the car seat, had grown out of the Plymouth window like the loose, flailing horn of a car-shaped herbivore.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Mr. Bond guides readers through ancient depictions of animals, including the gorgeous array of prehistoric cave paintings, with their mixture of dangerous predators and powerful herbivores.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

“We know, based on all the specific scientific studies and research that has occurred on Catalina, that we can’t do full island restoration work until the invasive herbivores are removed,” he added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Reintroducing wild horses and other herbivores to keep vegetation in check appeals to environmentalists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 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

Eurasian peoples happened to inherit many more species of domesticable large wild mammalian herbivores than did peoples of the other continents.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

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