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:
"Accidents can happen, and maybe a wolf fish or a piranha will try to take a chunk out of you, but ultimately they're not really there to get you," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2024
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
“While she’s icky-sweet on her cooking show, Sue is really a piranha type,” White once said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
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
Mary Lou grabbed the ropes that had held her to Tane over the piranha tank.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
It comes a day after painted swimming piranhas on to a City of London Police sentry box, which was first spotted on Sunday morning.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 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
“No doubt it would be a grand adventure,” she interjected, for she had no wish to dream about flesh-eating piranhas that night; the murderous pheasants had been bad enough.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
