predatornoun [ C ]
uk/ˈpred.ə.tər/us/ˈpred.ə.t̬ɚ/C1 an animal that hunts, kills, and eats other animals:
lions, wolves, and other predators
disapproving someone who follows people in order to harm them or commit a crime against them:
a sexual predator
In court, he was accused of being a merciless predator who had tricked his grandmother out of her savings.
More examples
- The population got out of control because there were no natural predators to keep it in check.
- The lack of a shell leaves the larvae unprotected against predators.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
General & informal words for animals
- arthropod
- beast
- beastie
- brute
- bug
- creepy-crawly
- critter
- domestic animal
- invertebrate
- man-eater
- pest
- pet
- prey
- stray
- thing
- vermin
- vertebrata
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Unpleasant people in general