Vorous Words: “offivorous” to “zoosuccivore”,
Part 3 of 3
Words that include: vor-, vora-, -vore, -vorous, -vores,
-vora, -vory (Latin: eat, consume, devour)
If you would like to take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section, then click
Vorous-Quiz which is located at the end of this set of definitions so you can see how much you know about these
“vorous” words.
offivorous, offivore, offivory:
The eating of offal; such as, filth, refuse or the waste parts or leavings of something like a butchered animal.
omnivorous, omnivore, omnivory, omnivorousness:
1. Feeding on a mixed diet of plant and animal material.
2. An animal that will eat any kind or many different kinds of food, including both plants and animals; pantophagous.
3. By extension, anyone who has very wide interests and will read, study, or generally absorb or be interested in just about anything that is available.
ornithivorous, ornithivore, ornithivory:
Feeding on or devouring birds.
oryzivorous, oryzivore, oryzivory:
Eating rice; the consumption of rice as a source of food.
ossivorous, ossivore, ossivory:
1. Feeding on bones.
2. In medicine, bone destroying as from a disease.
ovivorous, ovivore, ovivory:
These words represent either: feeding on eggs or eating the flesh of sheep.
panivorous, panivore, panivory:
The consumption of bread as a source of food or living primarily on bread.
photovorous, photovore, photovory:
Feeding on or “ingesting” light as a source of energy. Especially applicable to light-seeking robots. Coined by Mark Tilden, a hardware engineer at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. [As seen in an article titled, “Photovores” by A. K. Dewdney in the September, 1992, issue of Scientific American, page 42].
phytivorous, phytivore, phytivory:
Feeding on plants or vegetable matter.
phytosuccivorous, phytosuccivore, phytosuccivory:
To eat by sucking the sap of plants.
pigmentivorous:
Consuming pigments; destroying paint.
pinivorous, pinivore, pinivory:
Feeding on pine seeds.
piscivorous, piscivore, piscivory:
The eating of fish or subsisting on fish.
plurivorous, plurivore, plurivory:
To eat many things, specifically applied to a parasite capable of infecting numerous hosts.
pollenivorous, pollenivore, pollenivory:
Eating or feeding on pollen.
pomivorous:
Feeding on apples.
pupivorous:
Devouring the pupae of other insects such as parasites or other insects.
quercivorous:
Feeding on the leaves of oak trees.
radicivorous:
The eating of roots.
ranivorous:
Feeding on frogs.
sanguivore, sanguivorous, sanguivory:
Feeding on blood such as vampire bats, mosquitoes, leeches, ticks, fleas, etc. Also sanguinivorous.
seminivorous:
Eating or feeding on seeds.
serpentivorous:
Eating serpents; such as, snakes, lizards, etc.
stercovorous:
A reference to certain insects that eat dung or excrement.
uncarnivorous:
A non-meat eater.
univorous, univore, univory:
1. The eating of just one kind of food or eating just once a day.
2. A reference to a host-specific parasite.
vermivorous, vermivore:
Feeding or eating worms, grubs, or insect vermin; said especially of certain birds.
voracious, voraciously, voraciousness, voracity:
1. Desiring or consuming food in great quantities; ravenous, gluttonous.
2. By extension, unusually eager or enthusiastic about an activity; such as, “a voracious reader”; insatiable.
The praying mantis daily consumes its own weight in food and has become a legend. In ancient times it was worshiped in Greece and the Orient, and even today Japanese gamblers will stage mantis fights.
The voracious mantis is familiar for its forelegs, held like two supplicating hands; its triangular, swivel head; its bulging eyes; and its long, thin body. Smaller than an ant when hatched in the spring, it reaches four inches before succumbing to the cold in the autumn. It lies in wait on leaves or branches, gently swaying to and fro, then quickly grabs its prey with its spiky forelegs. The sharp mandibles dissect the victim, and the meal is digested within fifteen minutes.
There is that gruesome business of cannibalism. The female of the species has the habit of eating the male immediately after mating, if he isn’t fast enough to get away. Sometimes the lady will do this during mating, and, in some species, the male is able to mate only after he has been decapitated.
xylivore, xylivorous, xylivory:
Feeding on or consuming wood.
zoosuccivore, zoosuccivorous, zoosuccivory:
An organism that sucks the blood or other fluid from animal bodies.
Quiz
You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by just clicking on Vorous Quiz #3 to check your word knowledge.