SINCE 1828
fruit bat
nounDefinition 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
Illustration of fruit bat
fruit bat with fruit
Examples of fruit bat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ten people in the South Indian state of Kerala have died after being infected by the Nipah virus, an emerging disease thought to be spread by fruit bats and other animals. — Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, "What You Should Know About the Nipah Virus Outbreak," 22 May 2018 Inject an Egyptian fruit bat with the Marburg virus - a hemorrhagic relative of the infamous Ebola virus - and nothing happens. — Lucy Cooke, ajc, "US military is interested in bats as possible defenders against bioweapons," 3 July 2018 Inject an Egyptian fruit bat with the Marburg virus — a hemorrhagic relative of the infamous Ebola virus — and nothing happens. — Lucy Cooke, Washington Post, "The batty, explosive history of bats in the military — and why this new idea just might work," 2 July 2018 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 2018These 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.
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