MARSUPIAL

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does marsupial mean? 

• MARSUPIAL (noun)
  The noun MARSUPIAL has 1 sense:

1. mammals of which the females have a pouch (the marsupium) containing the teats where the young are fed and carried

  Familiarity information: MARSUPIAL used as a noun is very rare.

• MARSUPIAL (adjective)
  The adjective MARSUPIAL has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to the marsupials

  Familiarity information: MARSUPIAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MARSUPIAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mammals of which the females have a pouch (the marsupium) containing the teats where the young are fed and carried

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

marsupial; pouched mammal

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

metatherian (primitive pouched mammals found mainly in Australia and the Americas)

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

opossum; possum (nocturnal arboreal marsupial having a naked prehensile tail found from southern North America to northern South America)

opossum rat (terrestrial marsupials of southern South America that resemble shrews)

bandicoot (any of various agile ratlike terrestrial marsupials of Australia and adjacent islands; insectivorous and herbivorous)

kangaroo (any of several herbivorous leaping marsupials of Australia and New Guinea having large powerful hind legs and a long thick tail)

opossum; phalanger; possum (small furry Australian arboreal marsupials having long usually prehensile tails)

wombat (burrowing herbivorous Australian marsupials about the size of a badger)

dasyurid; dasyurid marsupial (small carnivorous nocturnal marsupials of Australia and Tasmania)

marsupial mole; Notoryctus typhlops; pouched mole (small burrowing Australian marsupial that resembles a mole)

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

Marsupialia; order Marsupialia (coextensive with the subclass Metatheria)

• MARSUPIAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the marsupials

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

marsupial animals

Pertainym:

marsupium (an external abdominal pouch in most marsupials where newborn offspring are suckled)

 Context examples 

Tasmanian devils are marsupial carnivores endemic to the Australian island of Tasmania.

(Human anti-cancer drugs could help treat transmissible cancers in Tasmanian devils, University of Cambridge)

The singular posterior opening of the intestinal and urinary tracts of birds, reptiles, amphibians, marsupials and monotremes.

(Cloaca, NCI Thesaurus)

But the marsupials' dominant status changed, according to the researchers, when tectonic plate movement joined the ancient island with the larger landmass.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)

Beard said that the two newly described fossil marsupials lived atop the food chain because other carnivores were unable to reach the small island.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)

The discovery of fossil teeth from two marsupial species that lived 43 million years ago on what was at that time an island provides key insights into the influence of geological changes on the evolution of mammals.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)