ARMADILLO

armadillo

(noun) burrowing chiefly nocturnal mammal with body covered with strong horny plates

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

armadillo (plural armadillos or armadilloes)

Any of the burrowing mammals covered with bony, jointed, protective plates, order Cingulata, found in the Americas, especially in South America.

Source: Wiktionary


Ar`ma*dil"lo, n.; pl. Armadillos. Etym: [Sp. armadillo, dim. of armado armed, p. p. of armar to arm. Do called from being armed with a bony shell.] (Zoöl.) (a) Any edentate animal if the family Dasypidæ, peculiar to America. The body and head are incased in an armor composed of small bony plates. The armadillos burrow in the earth, seldom going abroad except at night. When attacked, they curl up into a ball, presenting the armor on all sides. Their flesh is good food. There are several species, one of which (the peba) is found as far north as Texas. See Peba, Poyou, Tatouay. (b) A genus of small isopod Crustacea that can roll themselves into a ball.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

28 April 2024

POLYGENIC

(adjective) of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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