Meaning & use
anteater
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A toothless mammal with a long snout and a sticky tongue that eats mainly ants and termites.
Grammar: Countable; use 'an anteater' for one and 'anteaters' for more than one.
Patterns
- a giant anteater
- an anteater's tongue
We saw a giant anteater at the zoo; it used its long snout to sniff the ground.
An anteater has no teeth, so it swallows insects whole.
The anteater's sticky tongue can flick in and out very quickly.
Word forms
| plural | anteaters |
|---|
Common combinations
- giant anteater
- The giant anteater is the largest species and lives in Central and South America.
- spiny anteater
- A spiny anteater, also called an echidna, is covered in sharp spines.
- anteater's tongue
- The anteater's tongue is covered in sticky saliva to trap insects.
- feed on ants
- Anteaters feed on ants and termites, which they find by smell.
Synonyms and how they differ
- aardvark
- An aardvark is a similar African mammal that also eats ants, but it has large ears and strong claws for digging, not a bushy tail.
- pangolin
- A pangolin is a scaly mammal that also eats ants, but it is covered in hard plates rather than fur.
- echidna
- An echidna, or spiny anteater, is an egg-laying mammal from Australia with spines; it is not closely related to the giant anteater.
Word family
- ant noun
- A small insect that lives in colonies; anteaters eat them.
- ant-eating adjective
- Describing an animal that feeds on ants, e.g. an ant-eating mammal.
Commonly confused: anteater or aardvark?
anteater vs aardvark
Both eat ants, but an aardvark is a burrowing African mammal with big ears, while an anteater is a American mammal with a bushy tail and no teeth.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'anteater' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Anteaters are known for their long, sticky tongues and lack of teeth, so option A fits. Option B is wrong because anteaters have no teeth; option C describes a bat or owl, not an anteater; option D describes a beaver.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anteater”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.