: any of several bats (Desmodus rotundus, Diaemus youngi, and Diphylla ecaudata of the subfamily Desmodontinae of the family Phyllostomidae) of Mexico and Central and South America that feed on the blood of birds and mammals and especially domestic animals and that are sometimes vectors of disease and especially of rabies
also: any of several other bats (as of the families Megadermatidae and Phyllostomidae) that do not feed on blood but are sometimes reputed to do so
Illustration of vampire bat
Examples of vampire bat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebThe common vampire bat shares its food with roostmates whose hunt ended in failure.—Tim Brinkhof, Discover Magazine, 9 Mar. 2021 The case marked the first rabies death in the United States due to a vampire bat.—Emily Mullin, WIRED, 31 Oct. 2023 Baby Pink Vampire Bat Costume $30 at Amazon Never before have vampire bats seemed so ... stylish?—Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 22 Aug. 2023 Fittingly, vampire bats release an anticoagulant cocktail called Draculin in their saliva instead. 5.—Sofia Quaglia, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2023 To see how the bats can survive on the nutrient-poor liquid diet, Michael Hiller, a genomics expert at the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, and his team sequenced the genomes of 26 other bat species and compared them to the vampire bat genome.—Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2022 That vampire bat recognizes you.—Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2016 As if Alabama’s insurrection-inciting Mo Brooks wasn’t batty enough, now he’s teamed up with white vampire bat Stephen Miller.—J.d. Crowe | Jdcrowe@al.com, al, 22 Mar. 2021 This study establishes the first case of the hairy-legged vampire bat consuming human blood.—Leah Froats, Discover Magazine, 18 Sep. 2017 See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vampire bat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
: any of three bats of Mexico and Central and South America that feed on blood especially of domestic animals and sometimes carry and pass on diseases (as rabies)
also: any of several other bats that do not feed on blood but are sometimes said to do so
Medical Definition
vampire bat
noun
: any of several Central and South American bats (Desmodus rotundus, Diaemus youngi, and Diphylla ecaudata) that feed on the blood of birds and mammals and especially domestic animals and that are sometimes vectors of disease and especially of rabies
also: any of several other bats that do not feed on blood but are sometimes reputed to do so
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