herbivore
Americannoun
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herbivores
plural
noun
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an animal that feeds on grass and other plants
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informal a liberal, idealistic, or nonmaterialistic person
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An animal that feeds mainly or only on plants. In a food chain, herbivores are primary consumers.
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Compare carnivore detritivore
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of herbivore
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.
Vocabulary lists containing herbivore
Life Science: Ecosystems
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Ecology - Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems - Introductory
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Ecology - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
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
Haolong dongi was a herbivore, meaning it fed on plants rather than other animals.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 18, 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
Meanwhile, the Stegosaurus is seen an iconic herbivore, whose armored plates and spiked tail helped it to defend itself against predators and adapt to a challenging environment.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
“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
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
They often compensate villagers when carnivores kill their livestock or herbivores eat their crops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
The world holds only about 148 species of large wild mammalian terrestrial herbivores or omnivores, the large mammals that could he considered candidates for domestication.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
