Insectivorous
adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Feeding on insects.
"Researchers in the Netherlands have linked neonicotinoids found in surface water to declines in insectivorous birds and there is widespread scientific evidence that neonicotinoids harm bees – reducing their ability to pollinate plants, for instance."
- 2 Capable of trapping and absorbing insects; such as the sundew, pitcher plant and Venus flytrap.
- 1 (of animals and plants) feeding on insects wordnet
Example
More examples"The thrushes are largely insectivorous, and also are fond of spiders, myriapods, sowbugs, snails, and angleworms. The vegetable portion of their diet consists mostly of berries and other small fruits. As a family thrushes can not be called clean feeders, for the food eaten often contains a considerable proportion of such matter as dead leaves, stems, and other parts of more or less decayed vegetation."
Etymology
From Latin insectum (“insect”) and -vorus, from vorō (“to eat”), equivalent to insectivore + -ous or insect + -i- + -vorous.
Related phrases
More for "insectivorous"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.