free-tailed bat
1
8.5
- noun
- /friː-teɪld bæt/
:
murciélago de cola libre
- At dusk, a flock of Mexican free-tailed bats filled the sky, hunting for insects.
- Mexican free-tailed bat
- free-tailed bat (Tadarida
- free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis
Examples
-
So the 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats living in Bracken Cave near San Antonio, Texas, could significantly reduce populations of corn earworm moths.
Academic text (1999) -
All are tree-roosting species, although cave-roosting Mexican free-tailed bats have been killed too.
Academic text (2008) -
(a) Some of the several million individuals of a North American maternity colony of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis).
Academic text (2008) -
PHOTO (COLOR): Mexican free-tailed bat dines on a moth in midflight.
Academic text (1999) -
"The voracious appetite of Mexican free-tailed bats may be a valuable resource for farmers to help reduce populations of Helicoverpa moths," says Westbrook.
Academic text (1999) -
Many tourists gather each evening to watch the free-tailed bats emerge from the cave.
-
The free-tailed bat is known for its agility and speed while catching flying insects.
Synonyms
A small fast bat with a long tail that sticks out and eats insects
A small fast bat that eats insects and has a long tail that sticks out past its wing skin
Surface Forms
Morphology
free-tailed + bat
The compound is a straightforward descriptive noun: 'free-tailed' combines 'free' (not attached/restricted) with the adjective form of 'tail', so a learner who knows 'free' and 'tail' can infer it denotes a bat whose tail projects beyond the tail membrane. This is a transparent, compositionally predictable physical description following common adjective+noun patterns, so a B1 learner knowing the parts should understand the meaning.
Etymology
Free-tailed bat — The name comes from the bat's tail: the tail sticks out past the thin skin between its legs so it looks free instead of hidden. That's why the name describes a bat with a long, projecting tail.