anteater

UK /ˈænt.iː.tə/ US /ˈænt.iː.t̬ɚ/ Syllables: ant-eat-er

Pronunciation

Noun A1 Beginner Neutral

A long-nosed mammal that eats ants and termites using its long, sticky tongue.

An anteater is a mammal with a long nose and a long, sticky tongue that it uses to catch ants and termites. It has strong claws for opening nests and no teeth. A giant anteater can eat thousands of insects in a single day. Anteaters live in Central and South America, and they walk slowly on the ground or climb in trees. The word is simply ant plus eater, which makes it easy to remember.

"The anteater used its claws to tear open the termite mound."

Example sentences

"The anteater pushed its long nose into the hill."

Level A2
"A giant anteater has a tongue as long as its head."

Level B1
"We saw an anteater at the zoo."

Level A1
"Anteaters can eat thousands of ants in a day."

Level B1

Look-alikes and common mistakes

aardvark : An aardvark lives in Africa and also eats ants. The anteater lives in the Americas.
armadillo : An armadillo has a shell of bony plates. An anteater has long fur and a long nose.

Word family and forms

Forms: anteaters

ant eater giant anteater

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "anteater".

a giant anteater
an anteater's tongue
an anteater's nose
feed like an anteater
a baby anteater
anteater claws

Origin

Anteater is made from ant plus eater, because of what the animal eats, and it is first recorded in English in the 1750s and 1760s. The word is a simple compound.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Anteater is ant plus eater. You can read the meaning in the word itself.

Test yourself

Which word fits the gap? "The _____ pushed its long nose into the hill."

Answer: anteater

In your own words, what does "anteater" mean?