herbivorous
A buffalo, a goose, a grasshopper, and a stegosaurus sit down to eat dinner. This isn’t a joke, it’s an example of herbivorous creatures who exist on a diet of plant life only.
Herbivorous comes from the Latin word herba, which means “green plants,” and that’s what herbivorous animals eat all the time: grass, leaves, and other plants. Some massive and strong animals actually have peaceful herbivorous eating habits, like gorillas and hippopotamuses. The opposite of herbivorous is carnivorous, which describes meat-eating beasts like lions, sharks, crocodiles, and your uncle Marvin who eats nothing but steak all day long.
Definitions of herbivorous
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feeding only on plants
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Synonyms:
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anthophagous, anthophilous
feeding on flowers
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baccivorous
feeding on berries
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carpophagous, fruit-eating
feeding on fruit
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grass-eating
feeding on grasses
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phytophagic, phytophagous, phytophilous, plant-eating
(of animals) feeding on plants
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saprophagous, saprozoic
(of certain animals) feeding on dead or decaying animal matter
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saprophytic
(of some plants or fungi) feeding on dead or decaying organic matter
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Antonyms:
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carnivorous
(used of plants as well as animals) feeding on animals
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omnivorous
feeding on both plants and animals
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insectivorous
(of animals and plants) feeding on insects
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flesh-eating, meat-eating, zoophagous
(of animals) carnivorous
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piscivorous
feeding on fishes
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predaceous, predacious
hunting and killing other animals for food
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all-devouring
(of animals) both plant-eating and flesh-eating
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apivorous
feeding on bees
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myrmecophagous
feeding on ants
- show more antonyms...
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anthophagous, anthophilous
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