fruit bat

noun

|Updated on: 23 Jul 2018

Definition of fruit bat

: any of a family (Pteropodidae of the suborder Megachiroptera) of often large tropical and subtropical Old World bats that feed on ripe fruit, pollen, and nectar and that usually use visual navigation rather than echolocation — called also flying fox

See fruit bat defined for English-language learners

See fruit bat defined for kids

Recent Examples of fruit bat from the Web

But the fruit bat's NK receptor genes appear to activate and inhibit NK cell function.

— lucy cooke, ajc, "US military is interested in bats as possible defenders against bioweapons," 3 July 2018
But the fruit bat’s NK receptor genes appear to activate and inhibit NK cell function.

— lucy cooke, Washington Post, "The batty, explosive history of bats in the military — and why this new idea just might work," 2 July 2018
People have also been told to avoid abandoned wells, as fruit bats eat dates from palm trees, and sometimes nest in wells.

— travis fedschun, Fox News, "Rare virus kills more than a dozen in India, health officials warn it could cause global epidemic," 28 May 2018
In addition to fruit bats, other animals that have been known to become infected with the virus are chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines.

— susan scutti, CNN, "Ebola 101: Answers to your questions about causes, symptoms, transmission and treatments," 25 May 2018
In 2008, Amman found himself in Python Cave looking for that food source: a population of roughly 50,000 Egyptian fruit bats.

— wonbo woo, WIRED, "Why Are CDC Disease Detectives in a Cave Crawling With Snakes?," 13 June 2018
Nipah virus is known to infect both humans and animals, with certain species of fruit bat being natural hosts.

— manveena suri, CNN, "10 confirmed dead from Nipah virus outbreak in India, including nurse treating patients," 22 May 2018
Through investigation, researchers found that these pots were contaminated by fruit bats, who spread the virus through saliva and other bodily fluids.

— daniel fernandez, Smithsonian, "How Globalization Changed the Way We Fight Disease," 4 June 2018
The Nipah virus naturally resides in fruit bats across South and Southeast Asia, and can spread to humans through contact with the animals’ bodily fluids.

— emily baumgaertner, New York Times, "Nipah Virus, Dangerous and Little Known, Spreads in India," 4 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fruit bat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.