panda

[ pan-duh ]

noun

1. Also called giant panda. a white-and-black, bearlike mammal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, now rare and restricted to forest areas of central China containing stands of bamboo, on which it mainly subsists: formerly placed with the raccoon family but now classified as a bear subfamily, Ailuropodinae, or as the sole member of a separate family, Ailuropodidae, which diverged from an ancestral bear lineage.
2. Also called lesser panda. a reddish-brown, raccoonlike mammal, Ailurus fulgens, of mountain forests in the Himalayas and adjacent eastern Asia, subsisting mainly on bamboo and other vegetation, fruits, and insects, and reduced in numbers by collectors: now considered unrelated to the giant panda and usually classified as the sole member of an Old World raccoon subfamily, Ailurinae, which diverged from an ancestral lineage that also gave rise to the New World raccoons.

panda

/ ˈpændə /

noun

1. Also calledgiant panda a large black-and-white herbivorous bearlike mammal, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, related to the raccoons and inhabiting the high mountain bamboo forests of China: family Procyonidae
2. lesser panda or red panda
   a closely related smaller animal resembling a raccoon, Ailurus fulgens, of the mountain forests of S Asia, having a reddish-brown coat and ringed tail

Word History and Origins

Origin of panda¹

1825–35; < French (Cuvier), a name for the lesser panda, perhaps < a Tibeto-Burman language of the southeastern Himalayas

Word History and Origins

Origin of panda¹

C19: via French from a native Nepalese word

Example Sentences

The cub’s mother was on her way, and Dearie had to make tracks, as animal keepers do not directly interact with adult pandas.

From Washington Post

The zoo’s red pandas — a group that includes males Rusty, Clinger, Slash and Shredder — seem like a fun bunch.

From Washington Post

Also unclear is whether horse poop actually prevents pandas from feeling cold temporarily, or if it just makes feeling cold less unpleasant, Gracheva says.

From Science News

All pandas at the zoo move to China when they are 4 years old as part of the zoo’s breeding agreement with China.

From Washington Post

Rushing up a tree can save a wild panda from attacks by wild dogs.

From Science News For Students

Triplet panda cubs born this past July were reunited with their mother, Juxiao, in a Chinese zoo this week.

From The Daily Beast

The grand prize is a pristine white Fiat Panda 4X4 – with full options.

From The Daily Beast

Vineberg'€™s were said by police to be Panda, Black List, or œRed Bull.

From The Daily Beast

Panda-Patrice smothers sweet and sour sauce on his lips and grins at the camera.

From The Daily Beast

Panda-Patrice hybrid plays board games with five young girls whilst rapping “Get me broccoli/While I play Monopoly.”

From The Daily Beast

I will conclude with the following proverb, which comes in very appropriately: En retudi panda nasti abela macha.

From Project Gutenberg

The Milinda Panda mentions the royal astrologer as one of the principal functionaries of Menander.

From Project Gutenberg

Is it that the fates of battle 'gainst the Kuru house combine, Is it that thy heart's affection unto Panda's sons incline?

From Project Gutenberg

Panda, pan′da, n. a remarkable animal in the bear section of Carnivores found in the south-east Himalayas.

From Project Gutenberg

This is a very curious animal, which, like the panda and the linsang, at first misled naturalists in assigning it a place.

From Project Gutenberg