herbivorous
Americanadjective
adjective
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(of animals) feeding on grass and other plants
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informal liberal, idealistic, or nonmaterialistic
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of herbivorous
Explanation
A buffalo, a goose, a grasshopper, and a stegosaurus sit down to eat dinner. This isn’t a joke, it’s an example of herbivorous creatures who exist on a diet of plant life only. Herbivorous comes from the Latin word herba, which means “green plants,” and that’s what herbivorous animals eat all the time: grass, leaves, and other plants. Some massive and strong animals actually have peaceful herbivorous eating habits, like gorillas and hippopotamuses. The opposite of herbivorous is carnivorous, which describes meat-eating beasts like lions, sharks, crocodiles, and your uncle Marvin who eats nothing but steak all day long.
Vocabulary lists containing herbivorous
100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 2
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2014 Vocabulary Video Contest (A-L)
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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.
The menu, all vegetarian, includes treats such as a Buddha bowl with microgreens and Brussels sprouts with “bacon” from the Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis.
From Washington Post • Aug. 15, 2018
Herbivorous fish are particularly important for coral reefs, because their grazing prevents the algae from overgrowing and killing corals.
From Nature • Jul. 10, 2018
Herbivorous mammals like the giraffe have front teeth, muscular lips, flattened molars, and jawbones that pull and grind leaves in a side-to-side motion.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2018
Herbivorous fish, which can help reduce macroalgae cover, have also increased.
From The Guardian • Dec. 27, 2017
Herbivorous animals are for the greater part ruminators, that is, their food passes from the first division of the stomach back into the mouth, where it is masticated a second time; this is called "ruminating."
From Popular Books on Natural Science For Practical Use in Every Household, for Readers of All Classes by Bernstein, Aaron David
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.
