meerkat

American  

[meer-kat] / ˈmɪər kæt /

noun

• meerkats
  plural

1. suricate.

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meerkat British  

/ ˈmɪəˌkæt /

noun

1. any of several South African mongooses, esp Suricata suricatta ( slender-tailed meerkat or suricate ), which has a lemur-like face and four-toed feet

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• meerkats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of meerkat

Dutch: literally, monkey, apparently equivalent to meer ( see mere ²) + kat cat

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meerkat meerkats

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

She added: "Capybara baby Tango demanded cuddles from the author, lemur Clementine happily settled down next to her, and meerkat Blossom sat on her lap to listen to the story."

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2024

Each one earned him part of a meerkat.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Off to the right is a mob of meerkats and on the other side, some black and white goats that are rarer than giant pandas.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

In the more than three decades that Clutton-Brock has been watching the Kalahari meerkats, he’s seen their habitat get hotter.

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

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

I simply walked into what was surely the largest colony of meerkats in the world, one of the strangest, most wonder­ful experiences of my life.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel