(esp of animals) feeding on flesh (of plants such as the pitcher plant and sundew) able to trap and digest insects and other small animals of or relating to the Carnivora aggressively ambitious or reactionary
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
car•niv•o•rous /kɑrˈnɪvərəs/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- Zoologyflesh-eating:Tigers are carnivorous animals.
car•niv•o•rous
(kär niv′ər əs),USA pronunciation adj.
car•niv′o•rism, n.
car•niv′o•rous•ly, adv.
car•niv′o•rous•ness, n.
- Zoologyflesh-eating:A dog is a carnivorous animal.
- Zoologyof the carnivores.
- Latin carnivorus, equivalent. to carni- (combining form of carō flesh) + -vorus -vorous
- 1640–50
car•niv′o•rous•ly, adv.
car•niv′o•rous•ness, n.
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged meat-eating, predatory, predacious.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'carnivorous' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-vorous
- Carnivora
- Tasmanian devil
- Venus's-flytrap
- allosaur
- ambush bug
- arachnid
- badger
- bassarisk
- bear
- bowfin
- butcherbird
- butterwort
- cacomistle
- carnivore
- centipede
- ceratosaur
- civet
- compsognathus
- dasyure
- dimetrodon
- dinosaur
- dog whelk
- false vampire
- fang
- fissiped
- horseleech
- hyena
- leech
- lytta
- mantis
- maw
- megalosaur
- mosasaur
- mudminnow
- mustelid
- native cat
- otter
- polar bear
- predator
- prey
- raptor
- sarcophagous
- saurischian
- sciaenoid
- sundew
- taurocholic acid
- theropod
- thylacine
- tiger