raptorial
Americanadjective
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preying upon other animals; predatory.
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adapted for seizing prey, as the bill or claws of a bird.
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belonging or pertaining to the Raptores, a former order in which the falconiform and strigiform birds were erroneously grouped together.
adjective
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(of the feet of birds) adapted for seizing prey
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(esp of birds) feeding on prey; predatory
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of or relating to birds of prey
Etymology
Origin of raptorial
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.
The team also examined owl and raptorial predators however while the effects were the same, they were not as evident.
From Science Daily
In either case, we clearly have underestimated the abilities of those big, beady, raptorial eyes.
From Scientific American
But its body size and structure also suggest that the Coronodon wasn’t very good at this so-called raptorial feeding.
From The Verge
Thirty-three out of 34 of these contests escalated to striking with the raptorial appendages.
From Science Magazine
They have two abdominal appendages that allow them to suspend their bodies below the water’s surface, a hardy beak for invading the bodies of prey, and large raptorial legs covered in spines.
From The Verge
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.
