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ichneumon
Part of speech: NounA weasellike animal found in Asia, Africa, and Spain, which feeds on mice, rats, snakes, and birds.
Usage examples "ichneumon":- There are other Ichneumon- flies, moreover, addicted to robbing Spiders' nests; a basket of fresh eggs is their offspring's regular food. - "The Life of the Spider", J. Henri Fabre.
- Jenny learned to darn and sew; to recite Cowper's " Winter Walk" after Miss Wilberforce, who was never called " teacher," but always " ma'am"; to deliver trite observations upon the nature of common animals, such as " The dog is a sagacious beast," " The sheep is the friend of man," and to acquire a slight acquaintance with uncommon animals such as the quagga, the yak, and the ichneumon, because they won through their initials an undeserved prominence in the alphabet. - "Carnival", Compton Mackenzie.
- The Indian ichneumon, a small creature in appearance between the weasel and the mangoose, is of infinite use to the natives from its inveterate enmity to snakes, which would otherwise render every footstep of the traveller dangerous. - "A Hundred Anecdotes of Animals", Percy J. Billinghurst.