INSECTIVORE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does insectivore mean? 

• INSECTIVORE (noun)
  The noun INSECTIVORE has 2 senses:

1. small insect-eating mainly nocturnal terrestrial or fossorial mammals

2. any organism that feeds mainly on insects

  Familiarity information: INSECTIVORE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSECTIVORE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small insect-eating mainly nocturnal terrestrial or fossorial mammals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("insectivore" is a kind of...):

eutherian; eutherian mammal; placental; placental mammal (mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "insectivore"):

mole (small velvety-furred burrowing mammal having small eyes and fossorial forefeet)

shrew; shrewmouse (small mouselike mammal with a long snout; related to moles)

Erinaceus europaeus; Erinaceus europeaeus; hedgehog (small nocturnal Old World mammal covered with both hair and protective spines)

tendrac; tenrec (small often spiny insectivorous mammal of Madagascar; resembles a hedgehog)

otter shrew; potamogale; Potamogale velox (amphibious African insectivorous mammal that resembles an otter)

Holonyms ("insectivore" is a member of...):

Insectivora; order Insectivora (shrews; moles; hedgehogs; tenrecs)

Derivation:

insectivorous ((of animals and plants) feeding on insects)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any organism that feeds mainly on insects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("insectivore" is a kind of...):

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Derivation:

insectivorous ((of animals and plants) feeding on insects)

 Context examples 

Great tits – a close relation of North America’s chickadee – make a good study species as they are generalist insectivores that forage in flocks, and are known to spread other forms of information through observation.

(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)