ant-eater, noun
- Origin:
- EnglishShow more Transferred use of general English ant-eater a name used of any of several quadrupeds of the order Edentata.
1. The aardvark, Orycteropus afer.
- Note:
- Often (especially formerly) called African ant-eater, Cape ant-eater, or great ant-eater. Cf. scaly ant-eater (see sense 2 below).
1795 C.R. Hopson tr. of C.P. Thunberg’s Trav. I. 137The anteater, or aardvarken (myrmecophaga), digs large holes in the earth, in which in the day time he lies secure from his enemies.
2. With defining word, scaly ant-eater: the pangolin Manis temminckii of the Manidae.
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 251The scaly ant-eater is closely related to the aard-vark...The upper part of its body is encased in hard, horny scales.
1987 Hit Feb. 14If you kill a scaly ant eater, you immediately cut off its head because a pregnant woman is not supposed to see it as she could bear a child with a similar head shape.
The aardvark, Orycteropus afer.
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