meerkat
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of meerkat
Dutch: literally, monkey, apparently equivalent to meer ( see mere 2) + kat cat
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:
Artificial intelligence lets these glasses identify objects in our field of view, like a ficus tree or a Southern African meerkat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
One of the most familiar cooperative breeders to a human audience might be the meerkat, thanks to the documentary series Meerkat Manor.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
"When one meerkat calls, a neighbour is likely to reply," he adds.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024
Elsewhere, and in more cheerful news, the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC announced last month that it was celebrating the birth of meerkat pups for the first time in 16 years.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2023
I tossed hundreds of meerkat morsels at him that I would gladly have eaten myself.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
In exchange for crumbs of egg, wild meerkats will climb onto scales and even hold still for ultrasounds.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
Humans are a bit like meerkats when it comes to pairing up, according to a study that examined the monogamous lifestyles of different species.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
Are the meerkats that appear near the end of the story real or a hallucination?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025
We streamed soothing sights of wildlife such as penguins and meerkats at the San Diego Zoo while the polls were still open.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2024
It was as the meerkats were hauling the fish out of the pond, displaying real feats of teamwork, that I noticed something curious: every fish, without exception, was already dead.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
