Definition of "tapir" [ta•pir]

• Any of several large, chiefly nocturnal, odd-toed ungulates of the genus Tapirus of tropical America, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, related to the horse and the rhinoceros, and having a heavy body, short legs, and a long, fleshy, flexible upper lip. (noun)

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.

• "Guapo was busy plucking his macaws, but at the word tapir he sprang to his feet, making the feathers fly in all directions."
• "The latter weigh up to a hundred pounds, but, unlike the tapir, which is as good as beef, their meat is unpalatable."
• "The tapir is a very archaic type of ungulate, not unlike the non-specialized beasts of the oligocene."