tapir
any of several large, stout, three-toed ungulates of the family Tapiridae, of Central and South America, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, somewhat resembling swine and having a long, flexible snout: all species are threatened or endangered.
Origin of tapir
1Words that may be confused with tapir
- taper, tapir
Words Nearby tapir
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tapir in a sentence
Now we know that there might have been this crazy saber-toothed animal stalking primates in the branches or maybe stalking the tapirs in the leaves below.
A new saber-toothed mammal was among the first hypercarnivores | Sofia Quaglia | March 15, 2022 | Science NewsChávez and his colleagues observed the tapir frogs in the shallow spaces beneath the roots of small trees growing from the least waterlogged patches of peat.
If this population can be confirmed as tapir frogs, they could give scientists more information about the species’s distribution and how best to conserve it.
Within them, young readers are asked to locate a purple tapir named Gordon, but the plot soon diverges from the activity-book formula.
Once she nursed a sick tapir called April through the night, playing the music of the Doors to stay awake.
Sharon Matola, devoted zookeeper and conservationist, dies at 66 | Emily Langer | March 31, 2021 | Washington Post
One can cite but the sole example of the American tapir where the male is smaller than the female.
The Natural Philosophy of Love | Remy de GourmontThe tapir is a very large animal,—about five or six feet long and three or four feet high.
Martin Rattler | R.M. BallantyneThe tapir lives as much in the water as on the land, and delights to wallow like a pig in muddy pools.
Martin Rattler | R.M. BallantyneThen Martin turned to fly, but at the same moment the tapir did the same, to his great delight and surprise.
Martin Rattler | R.M. BallantyneThe tapir stopped feeding for a moment, but then recommenced, though evidently not222 with as much eagerness as before.
Popular Adventure Tales | Mayne Reid
British Dictionary definitions for tapir
/ (ˈteɪpə) /
any perissodactyl mammal of the genus Tapirus, such as T. indicus (Malayan tapir), of South and Central America and SE Asia, having an elongated snout, three-toed hind legs, and four-toed forelegs: family Tapiridae
Origin of tapir
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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