flying fox
1
8.2
- noun
- /ˈflaɪɪŋ fɑks/
- Australian
:
zorro volador
- The flying fox pollinates as much as 60 percent of the trees that form the rainforest canopy.
- flying fox bat
- a large flying fox
Examples
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Squadrons of flying foxes are performing flybys up and down the road.
Blog text (30) -
Flying fox.
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We're talking about flying foxes?
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There would be more flying foxes to go faster across the river.
Academic text (1995) -
McConkey KR, Drake DR. 2006. Flying foxes cease to function as seed dispersers long before they become rare. Ecology 87: 271-276.
Academic text (2011) -
The biggest is the Old World flying fox, with a wingspan of nearly six feet.
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Also known as the fruit bat, the flying fox has a wingspan that can reach up to four feet.
Synonyms
201
1.0
A small animal that flies at night and finds food by sound
5
3.7
A large flying animal that lives in warm places and eats mostly fruit at night
1
8.1
A large bat that eats fruit and lives in warm areas
A large fruit bat with a face like a fox that lives in tropical regions
A large bat that eats fruit and lives in Africa
A group of large fruit bats like flying foxes that live in tropical regions
Large bats with big eyes that eat fruit and nectar
How Big
- Australian
1
8.2
- US
- Specialized
1
7.1
- US
Surface Forms
Morphology
flying + fox
The noun is a straightforward compound of 'flying' + 'fox' indicating an animal that flies and has fox-like features, so a B1 learner who knows the two words can infer it refers to a flying, fox-shaped creature (in fact a large bat). The technical taxonomic detail (genus Pteropus) may be unfamiliar, but the core meaning is compositionally clear and follows common cross-linguistic compounding patterns.
Etymology
Flying fox was named for how the animal looks: it is a large 'bat' with a face like a fox and long wings that make it seem like a fox that is flying. So today flying fox refers to this big fruit-eating 'bat'.