edentate

e·den·tate  (-dntt)

adj.

1. Lacking teeth.

2. Of or belonging to the order Edentata, which includes mammals having few or no teeth, such as anteaters, armadillos, and sloths.

n.

A member of the Edentata.

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[Latin denttus, past participle of dentre, to knock out the teeth : -, ex-, ex- + dns, dent-, tooth; see dent- in Indo-European roots.]

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edentate

Noun

a mammal with few or no teeth, such as an armadillo or a sloth

Adjective

denoting such a mammal [Latin edentatus lacking teeth]

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edentate  (-dntt)

Adjective

Lacking teeth.

Noun

Any of various mammals belonging to the order Xenarthra (or Edentata), having no front teeth and few or no back teeth. The lumbar vertebrae have extra joints, which add support during digging. Sloths, armadillos, and anteaters are edentates.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	edentate - primitive terrestrial mammal with few if any teeth; of tropical Central America and South America eutherian, eutherian mammal, placental, placental mammal - mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials Edentata, order Edentata - order of mammals having few or no teeth including: New World anteaters; sloths; armadillos armadillo - burrowing chiefly nocturnal mammal with body covered with strong horny plates tree sloth, sloth - any of several slow-moving arboreal mammals of South America and Central America; they hang from branches back downward and feed on leaves and fruits megatherian, megatherian mammal, megatheriid - a large extinct ground sloth mylodontid - a variety of extinct edentate mylodon - large (bear-sized) extinct edentate mammal of the Pleistocene in South America New World anteater, anteater - any of several tropical American mammals of the family Myrmecophagidae which lack teeth and feed on ants and termites
Adj.	1.	edentate - having few if any teeth; "anteaters are edentate animals" edental, edentulate toothless - lacking teeth; "most birds are toothless"; "a toothless old crone"