mantis

Plural: mantes, mantises

Noun

• A predatory insect with large forelegs for grasping prey.
• predacious long-bodied large-eyed insect of warm regions; rests with forelimbs raised as in prayer
• Any of various large insects of the order Mantodea that catch insects or other small animals with their powerful forelegs.
• A green colour, like that of many mantises.

Examples

• His Scrabble play of MANTIS struck with the silent precision of the insect itself.

Synonyms

mantid, rear-horse

Related Words

archaeognathan, beetle, blattodean, booklice, butterflies and moth, caddis flies, cockroach and termite, coleopteran, damselflies and dragonflies, dermapteran, dipteran, earwig, embiopteran, ephemeropteran, flea, flies, grylloblattodean, hemipteran, hymenopteran, ice crawler, jumping bristletail, lepidopteran, mantodean, mantophasmid, mayflies, mecopteran, megalopteran, neuropteran, odonatan, orthopteran, phasmatodean, plecopteran, psocodean, raphidiopteran, scorpionflies, silverfish, siphonapteran, snakeflies, stick insect, stoneflies, strepsipteran, thrips, thysanopteran, trichopteran, true bug, webspinner, zorapteran, zygentoman