infanticidal
1
9.9
- adjective
- /ɪnˌfæntɪˈsaɪdəl/
- Offensive
- Males and females of such species show a temporal shift in infanticidal tendencies such that they cannibalize pups only when their own young are unlikely to be present.
Examples
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Many species exhibit infanticidal behavior, where adults kill infants to ensure their own survival.
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There they would have encountered unrelated females, possibly competing mothers, who might be not only unsupportive but actually infanticidal.
Academic text (2009) -
Do you think we should be extra hard on infanticidal mothers because of a dead baby?
Fiction book (2001) -
So in that sense, choosing males that are nice males and not choosing males that will probably be infanticidal, it's an important thing.
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Infants at this stage are vulnerable to predation and to infanticidal attacks from adult clan members of both sexes.
Academic text (1998) -
The report highlighted the increasing rates of infanticidal acts among certain animal populations during droughts.
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During the harsh winter, some animals are known to exhibit infanticidal tendencies to conserve resources for their surviving young.
How Dangerous
Surface Forms
Morphology
infanticidal = infanticide (semi-transparent) = infant + icide + al
Adding -al to 'infanticide' is a standard adjective-forming pattern, so the immediate derivation is clear.
Etymology
Infanticidal comes from infant ('baby') and the ending -cide ('kill'), the same part you see in homicide and pesticide. So infanticidal means 'relating to killing infants'.