carnivore

/ˌkɑrnəˈvɔər/

/ˈkɑnɪvɔ/

Other forms: carnivores

A carnivore is something that feeds on the flesh of animals. “Did you know that cute little baby seals are carnivores? They eat penguins!”

It’s a useful thing to be acquainted with the root vore, which means eat, because you can get herbivore (eats plants), omnivore (eats everything), and sanguivore (eats blood, yes, like vampires). It’s nice to know, too, that it’s not only animals that are carnivores. Some plants, like the Venus flytrap, eat insects, which makes them carnivores as well. It’s nice, too, to have the prefix of carnivore, carn or flesh, in your mind. The easiest way to remember it? Chili con carne, or chili with meat.

Definitions of carnivore

1. noun

   a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal
   “terrestrial carnivores have four or five clawed digits on each limb”

   types:

   fissiped, fissiped mammal

   terrestrial carnivores; having toes separated to the base: dogs; cats; bears; badgers; raccoons

   canid, canine

   any of various fissiped mammals with nonretractile claws and typically long muzzles

   felid, feline

   any of various lithe-bodied roundheaded fissiped mammals, many with retractile claws

   bear

   a massive carnivorous or omnivorous mammal with a long shaggy coat and strong claws

   viverrine, viverrine mammal

   small cat-like predatory mammals of warmer parts of the Old World

   mustelid, musteline, musteline mammal

   fissiped fur-bearing carnivorous mammals

   procyonid

   plantigrade carnivorous mammals

   bear cub

   a young bear

   bitch

   female of any member of the dog family

   Canis familiaris, dog, domestic dog

   a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds

   wolf

   any of various predatory carnivorous canine mammals of North America and Eurasia that usually hunt in packs

   Canis aureus, jackal

   Old World nocturnal canine mammal closely related to the dog; smaller than a wolf; sometimes hunts in a pack but usually singly or as a member of a pair

   wild dog

   any of various undomesticated mammals of the family Canidae that are thought to resemble domestic dogs as distinguished from jackals or wolves

   hyaena, hyena

   doglike nocturnal mammal of Africa and southern Asia that feeds chiefly on carrion

   fox

   alert omnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs

   cat, true cat

   feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats

   big cat, cat

   any of several large cats typically able to roar and living in the wild

   Ursus arctos, brown bear, bruin

   large ferocious bear of Eurasia

   bruin

   a conventional name for a bear used in tales following usage in the old epic `Reynard the Fox'

   American black bear, Euarctos americanus, Ursus americanus, black bear

   brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear

   Asiatic black bear, Selenarctos thibetanus, Ursus thibetanus, black bear

   bear with a black coat living in central and eastern Asia

   Thalarctos maritimus, Ursus Maritimus, ice bear, polar bear

   white bear of Arctic regions

   Melursus ursinus, Ursus ursinus, sloth bear

   common coarse-haired long-snouted bear of south-central Asia

   civet, civet cat

   cat-like mammal typically secreting musk used in perfumes

   Cryptoprocta ferox, fossa, fossa cat

   largest carnivore of Madagascar; intermediate in some respects between cats and civets

   Genetta genetta, genet

   agile Old World viverrine having a spotted coat and long ringed tail

   mongoose

   agile grizzled Old World viverrine; preys on snakes and rodents

   meerkat, mierkat

   a mongoose-like viverrine of South Africa having a face like a lemur and only four toes

   weasel

   small carnivorous mammal with short legs and elongated body and neck

   mink

   slender-bodied semiaquatic mammal having partially webbed feet; valued for its fur

   Mustela putorius, fitch, foulmart, foumart, polecat

   dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off an unpleasant odor when threatened

   Mustela nigripes, black-footed ferret, ferret

   musteline mammal of prairie regions of United States; nearly extinct

   otter

   freshwater carnivorous mammal having webbed and clawed feet and dark brown fur

   Enhydra lutris, sea otter

   large marine otter of northern Pacific coasts having very thick dark brown fur

   polecat, skunk, wood pussy

   American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae

   badger

   sturdy carnivorous burrowing mammal with strong claws; widely distributed in the northern hemisphere

   Mellivora capensis, honey badger, ratel

   nocturnal badger-like carnivore of wooded regions of Africa and southern Asia

   Gulo gulo Iuscus, carcajou, skunk bear, wolverine

   stocky shaggy-coated North American carnivorous mammal

   Gulo gulo gulo, glutton, wolverine

   musteline mammal of northern Eurasia

   Galictis vittatus, Grison vittatus, grison

   carnivore of Central America and South America resembling a weasel with a greyish-white back and dark underparts

   marten, marten cat

   agile slender-bodied arboreal mustelids somewhat larger than weasels

   Eira barbara, taira, tayra

   long-tailed arboreal mustelid of Central America and South America

   raccoon, racoon

   an omnivorous nocturnal mammal native to North America and Central America

   Bassariscus astutus, bassarisk, cacomistle, cacomixle, civet cat, coon cat, miner's cat, raccoon fox, ring-tailed cat, ringtail

   raccoon-like omnivorous mammal of Mexico and the southwestern United States having a long bushy tail with black and white rings

   Potos caudivolvulus, Potos flavus, honey bear, kinkajou, potto

   arboreal fruit-eating mammal of tropical America with a long prehensile tail

   Nasua narica, coati, coati-mondi, coati-mundi, coon cat

   omnivorous mammal of Central America and South America

   Ailurus fulgens, bear cat, cat bear, lesser panda, panda, red panda

   reddish-brown Old World raccoon-like carnivore; in some classifications considered unrelated to the giant pandas

   Ailuropoda melanoleuca, coon bear, giant panda, panda, panda bear

   large black-and-white herbivorous mammal of bamboo forests of China and Tibet; in some classifications considered a member of the bear family or of a separate family Ailuropodidae

   type of:

   eutherian, eutherian mammal, placental, placental mammal

   mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials
2. noun

   any animal that feeds on flesh
   “Tyrannosaurus Rex was a large carnivore”

   “insectivorous plants are considered carnivores”

   type of:

   predator, predatory animal

   any animal that lives by preying on other animals