piranha
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of piranha
1865–70; < Portuguese < Tupi
Explanation
A piranha is a fish with famously sharp teeth. Don't go swimming in certain South American rivers if you want to avoid piranhas! These freshwater fish are terrifyingly described as "voraciously carnivorous," meaning they eat meat with great enthusiasm. Humans aren't often bitten by piranhas, but it does happen in some parts of South America. You also can't buy a piranha as a pet in many parts of the world — and if you do, it's best not to get two of them, since the weaker fish is often killed by the stronger one.
Vocabulary lists containing piranha
English Words Derived from Indigenous Languages of the Americas
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Amazing Animals, List 1
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South America - Middle School
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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:
As Richard, the deceased father of Jenna Ortega’s Astrid Deetz, Santiago Cabrera got a combination of prosthetics and makeup for the puppet piranha fish biting at his face, neck and body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024
Unlike other predatory fish like piranha, it only has small, not particularly sharp teeth.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2023
That set off a competitive scramble among other Mexican states, like feeding time at a piranha tank.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 24, 2023
White once said her character Sue Ann Nivens in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” could be “icky-sweet” but was “really a piranha type.”
From Washington Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
Not even Rondon, who was missing a little toe after a piranha bit it off.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
It was the ninth Banksy to appear in as many days in London and follows images of a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat, piranhas and a rhinoceros.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2024
Despite their size, swarms of these insects can cause considerable damage by shredding plant life to bits like ravenous piranhas..
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2024
Known as vegetarian piranhas, pacu can reach up to 1 meter long.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 4, 2023
Reggie was placed there by two reptile enthusiasts who’d raised him in their San Pedro homes, alongside snapping turtles, piranhas, rattlesnakes and desert tortoises.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2022
I do this as threateningly as I can, thinking of crocodiles, sharks, black piranhas for courage.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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.
