praying mantis
Americannoun
-
praying mantises
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of praying mantis
First recorded in 1700–10
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.
No insect shocks him more than the female praying mantis, a creature with a pious name that belies her appetite for other insects—and even for her own mate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The first step toward that vision is materializing in Motiv’s climate-controlled clean room: a sleek robotic arm whose angles resemble those of a praying mantis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
A praying mantis consumes her mate after copulation, termites suck blood out of wounded peers, and mosquitoes snack on larvae.
From New York Times ● Mar. 25, 2022
"I don't want to look like a praying mantis with these things all over my head."
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2022
“On the count of three,” Jeff, the taller Med-jack, was saying, his tall frame looking ridiculous bent in half, like a praying mantis.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
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.
