Recent Examples on the WebThis pattern hinted that megaherbivory — becoming large herbivores — benefited brontotheres; perhaps smaller brontothere species were more vulnerable to competition from fellow plant-eaters and predation from carnivores, the authors reported.—Mindy Weisberger, CNN, 11 May 2023 That suggests the Edmontosaurus—a multi-ton herbivore that died about 70 million years ago, before its fossilized remains were found in southwestern North Dakota in 1999—had been exposed to the air long enough to become desiccated before being buried by sediment and later fossilized.—Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 12 Oct. 2022 If girls are sugar and spice, does that equate them to herbivores, to the boy-snips-and-snails of omnivores?—Kyle Lukoff, Harper's BAZAAR, 10 May 2023 Might the domestication of horses that took place there 5,000-odd years ago have been brought about by episodic drought that pushed pastoralists to give up on herding less resilient herbivores?—Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 10 May 2023 When a herbivore nibbles on a sagebrush plant or an acacia tree, the plant emits toxins not only to ward off the nibbler but to signal to neighbor plants, who also begin emitting toxins.7 Plants Listen to Each Other Like many animals, some plants also communicate using sound.—David M. Kuchta, Treehugger, 4 May 2023 Triceratops is a quadrupedal dinosaur of the ceratopsian family – herbivores from the Cretaceous period with a bony frill and distinct beaklike bone.—Kelly Santana Banks, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2023 But after being hunted to near extinction in the early 20th century, the herbivores are now only found in zoos, farms, and game preserves.—Zoe Sottile, CNN, 16 Apr. 2023 The researchers found that not only did the plants make sounds, but that the plants also made much more of a ruckus when they were dehydrated or having their stems cut (simulating an herbivore attack).—Darren Incorvaia, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023 See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'herbivore.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
New Latin Herbivora, group of mammals, from neuter plural of herbivorus
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