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vampire bat

American

noun

any of several New World tropical bats of the genera Desmodus, Diphylla, and Diaemus, the size of a small mouse, feeding on small amounts of blood obtained from resting mammals and birds by means of a shallow cut made with specialized incisor teeth.
any of several large South American bats of the genera Phyllostomus and Vampyrus, erroneously believed to feed on blood.
false vampire.

vampire bat British

noun

any bat, esp Desmodus rotundus, of the family Desmodontidae of tropical regions of Central and South America, having sharp incisor and canine teeth and feeding on the blood of birds and mammals Compare false vampire

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of vampire bat

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

An anticoagulant in vampire bat saliva keeps the blood flowing as the bat laps up a meal.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

An African savanna elephant, an Amazon river dolphin, a crab-eating macaque, a common vampire bat and a Weddell seal.Credit...

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2023

Gerry Carter, an assistant professor at Ohio State University, is trying to unravel the mysteries of vampire bat friendships.

From Salon • Aug. 28, 2022

The vampire bat brain may have also benefitted from a fortuitous gene loss.

From Scientific American • Mar. 25, 2022

Up at the very top of the shed was the biggest vampire bat you’d ever see!

From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023