| / English Dictionary |
PREDATOR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Any animal that lives by preying on other animals
Synonyms:
predator; predatory animal
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("predator" is a kind of...):
animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "predator"):
carnivore (any animal that feeds on flesh)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Someone who attacks in search of booty
Synonyms:
marauder; piranha; predator; vulture
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("predator" is a kind of...):
aggressor; assailant; assaulter; attacker (someone who attacks)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "predator"):
moss-trooper (a marauder and plunderer (originally operating in the bogs between England and Scotland))
Context examples:
A zooplankton that consumes a microscopic piece of microplastic filled with PAHs may be eaten by a larger organism, which in turn feeds others of increasing size until the pollutant reaches larger predators fished and consumed by humans.
(Microplastic pollution adds to oceans’ problems, scidev.net)
Understanding how species adapt their behaviour once predators have been eradicated – and how quickly this occurs - could better inform efforts to support the recovery of a target species.
(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)
Social interactions within a predator species can have “evolutionary consequences” for potential prey – such as the conspicuous warning colours of insects like ladybirds.
(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)
From the video shot by the Newcastle team, Linley said it was clear there are lots of invertebrate prey down there, and the snailfish are the top predator.
(Three New Species of Fish Found at Bottom of Pacific Ocean, VOA)
Animals have evolved over millennia to use camouflage as a lifesaving way to dodge predators - so what happens to them when, over the course of just a few decades, their environments change?
(Twenty-one species adapted to disappear in the snow. Then, the snow disappeared, National Science Foundation)
Understanding the effects of human influence such as the introduction of invasive predators could help predict how species respond to rapidly changing environments.
(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)
Without social transmission taking place in predator species such as great tits, it becomes extremely difficult for conspicuously coloured prey to outlast and outcompete alternative prey, even if they are distasteful or toxic.
(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)
This suggests that the effects of urbanisation on species are strong enough to counteract adaptations to other human influences such as invasive predators.
(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)
Our study demonstrates that the social behaviour of predators needs to be considered to understand the evolution of their prey, said lead author Dr Rose Thorogood, from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology.
(Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours, University of Cambridge)
Given their estimated life span, today’s finches are not likely to be the same birds that had originally developed the response to defend themselves from predators.
(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)
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