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Definition of "necrophagous" [ne•croph•a•gous]

  • Feeding on carrion or corpses: necrophagous organisms. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "necrophagous" in a sentence
  • "The skin was almost entirely enclosing the skeleton, and inside were millions of the pupa-cases of flies and other insects, with thousands of two or three species of small necrophagous beetles."
  • "I suppose such lapses were inevitable from a reviewer so reluctant to take on the job in the first place, his arm having been twisted by your magazine's necrophagous fascination with English playing fields."
  • "These false eagles rarely kill any living bird or animal; and their vulture-like, necrophagous habits are very evident to any one who has fallen asleep on the desolate plains; for, when he awakes, he will see on each surrounding hillock one of these birds patiently watching him with an evil eye."