panda

American  

[pan-duh] / ˈpæn də /

noun

• pandas
  plural

1. Also called giant panda. a white-and-black, bearlike mammal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, now rare and restricted to forest areas of central China containing stands of bamboo, on which it mainly subsists: formerly placed with the raccoon family but now classified as a bear subfamily, Ailuropodinae, or as the sole member of a separate family, Ailuropodidae, which diverged from an ancestral bear lineage.

2. Also called lesser panda. a reddish-brown, raccoonlike mammal, Ailurus fulgens, of mountain forests in the Himalayas and adjacent eastern Asia, subsisting mainly on bamboo and other vegetation, fruits, and insects, and reduced in numbers by collectors: now considered unrelated to the giant panda and usually classified as the sole member of an Old World raccoon subfamily, Ailurinae, which diverged from an ancestral lineage that also gave rise to the New World raccoons.

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panda British  

/ ˈpændə /

noun

1. Also called: giant panda. a large black-and-white herbivorous bearlike mammal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, related to the raccoons and inhabiting the high mountain bamboo forests of China: family Procyonidae

2. a closely related smaller animal resembling a raccoon, Ailurus fulgens, of the mountain forests of S Asia, having a reddish-brown coat and ringed tail

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pandas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of panda

1825–35; < French (Cuvier), a name for the lesser panda, perhaps < a Tibeto-Burman language of the southeastern Himalayas

Explanation

A panda is a black and white bear that's native to China. You can't miss the giant pandas in the zoo, with those distinctive black rings around their eyes. For years experts debated about whether pandas were bears, a type of raccoon, or their own separate species. The latest DNA research has scientists mostly convinced that pandas are indeed bears. These big mammals have a reputation for being lazy, but they spend almost 20 hours a day eating, and they don't hibernate like many bears. Wild pandas are endangered, but there are about 400 captive pandas being carefully bred and protected.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

panda pandas

In 2023 the death of an aging panda at the Memphis Zoo and the poor appearance of another set off social media complaints in China.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

In return, Xi announced he was giving the Atlanta Zoo two panda bears and extended the U.S.–China trade-war truce, which was about to expire, by two months.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026

Bruce is now the only red panda at the zoo and is the grandfather of Priya, a female red panda who moved to the Highland Wildlife Park earlier this year.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Raj, Ruby’s 4-year-old partner and father to her cubs, is now the only red panda left at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Adult pandas can, and do, climb trees, although it’s mostly panda cubs who spend extended periods of time above the forest floor.

From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh

The only other reveal was that two Chinese pandas would soon arrive at a US zoo.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

Xi announced China would give the U.S. two giant pandas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

That year, while at a regional summit in San Francisco, Xi raised the prospect of sending more pandas to the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

And, of course, let's not forget the pandas.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

What if that were true of lions and seals and pandas?

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness