herbivorous

/hə:'bivərəs/

Thân thiện

Herbivorous animals like deer graze peacefully in the meadow.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Feeding only on plants: Describes an animal whose diet consists exclusively or primarily of plant matter, such as leaves, grass, fruits, or seeds.

Usage

• The adjective herbivorous is used to classify animals based on their diet. It is the opposite of carnivorous (meat-eating) and omnivorous (eating both plants and animals).
• It is typically used before a noun (e.g., a herbivorous animal) or after a linking verb like "is" or "are" (e.g., The species is herbivorous).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • Cows and deer are herbivorous mammals.
  • A herbivorous diet requires specialized teeth for grinding plant material.
  • Is that dinosaur skeleton from a herbivorous or carnivorous species?

Advanced Usage

• "obligate herbivore": An animal that must eat plants to survive and cannot digest meat.
  • Koalas are obligate herbivores, feeding solely on eucalyptus leaves.
• Used in ecological and biological contexts to describe an organism's trophic level or role in a food web.
  • Herbivorous insects can significantly impact agricultural crops.

Variants and Related Words

• Herbivore (noun): An animal that feeds on plants.
  • Rabbits and elephants are herbivores.
• Herbivory (noun): The act or practice of feeding on plants.
  • The study focused on insect herbivory in the rainforest.

Synonyms

• Plant-eating: Consuming plants as food.
• Phytophagous (technical): Feeding on plants.

Antonyms

• Carnivorous: Feeding on animal flesh.
• Omnivorous: Feeding on both plant and animal matter.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. feeding only on plants