Ant-eat·er n. Zool. One of several species of edentates and monotremes that feed upon ants. See Ant-bear, Pangolin, Aard-vark, and Echidna.
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anteater
n 1: toothless mammal of southern Africa and Asia having a body
covered with horny scales and a long snout for feeding
on ants and termites [syn: pangolin, scaly anteater]
2: any of several tropical American mammals of the family
Myrmecophagidae which lack teeth and feed on ants and
termites [syn: New World anteater]
3: nocturnal burrowing mammal of the grasslands of Africa that
feeds on termites; sole extant representative of the order
Tubulidentata [syn: aardvark, ant bear, Orycteropus
afer]
4: small Australian marsupial having long snout and strong
claws for feeding on termites; nearly extinct [syn: numbat,
banded anteater, Myrmecobius fasciatus]
5: New Guinea echidnas [syn: echidna, spiny anteater]
6: burrowing spine-covered monotreme of Australia having a long
snout and claws for hunting ants and termites [syn: echidna,
spiny anteater]