armadillo
- noun
- /ˌɑrməˈdɪloʊ/
- US
- The armadillo has a hard shell that protects it from predators.
- armadillo shell
- giant armadillo
- nine-banded armadillo
And then if you flip him over and write the punchline, then every fucking, you know, every highway armadillo could fucking be Chris Rock.
- And then if you flip him over and write the punchline, then every fucking, you know, every highway armadillo could fucking be Chris Rock.
Examples
-
But when you peer around the tree, you see it's only an armadillo hopping through the leaves, popping branches.
Fiction book (1998) -
The first resembled a monstrous armadillo, though its head was large and broad.
Fiction book (1992) -
Hey, why did the armadillo cross the road?
-
They considered making it a state animal... but they went for the armadillo instead.
-
Carefully, the armadillo peered through the leaves of the bush down the other side of the hill.
Fiction book (1998) -
Suddenly, the drilling arm jolts upward, lifting the armadillo six feet off the ground.
Fiction book (1998) -
His feet were short and high-arched; his hands thick and leathery like the scales of an armadillo.
Fiction book (2002) -
During our hike, we spotted an armadillo burrowing near the path.
-
At night, the armadillo forages for insects and small plants in the grass.
Compounds
A very large animal with a hard shell from South America that grows about three feet long
A very small armadillo from Argentina with pale silky hair and pink plates on its head and neck
A small animal with nine bands of hard armor that lives in parts of North and South America
A small animal with nine bands of hard plates that lives from Texas to Paraguay
A small South American animal with three bands of hard plates on its back that can roll into a ball
Surface Forms
Etymology
Armadillo comes from Spanish and literally means 'little armored one', from armado ('armored') plus a small ending that means 'little'. It is related to the English word armor, which helps you remember that an armadillo wears a hard shell and can curl up like a tiny suit of armor.