Phrase guide

vampire bat

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of the three small bats of the subfamily Desmodontinae, native to Central and South America, which use their teeth to cut the skin of larger animals while they are asleep and surreptitiously drink blood, their sole source of food.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any of various tropical American bats of the family Desmodontidae that bite mammals and birds to feed on their blood

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: true vampire bat

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: carnivorous bat, microbat

Narrower terms: Desmodus rotundus, hairy-legged vampire bat, Diphylla ecaudata

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: vampiru — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Bulgarian: прилеп-вампир (prilep-vampir) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Bulgarian: кръвосмучещ прилеп (krǎvosmučešt prilep) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Catalan: vampir — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Chinese Mandarin: 吸血蝠 (xīxuèfú) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Czech: upír — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Estonian: vereimeja — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Finnish: vampyyri — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Finnish: vampyyrilepakko — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • French: chauve-souris vampire — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • German: Vampirfledermaus — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Greek: νυχτερίδα (nychterída) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Icelandic: vampíra — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Indonesian: kelelawar vampir — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Irish: vaimpír — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Italian: pipistrello vampiro — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Korean: 흡혈박쥐 (heuphyeolbakjwi) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Malay: kelawar langsuir — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Polish: wampir — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Portuguese: morcego-vampiro — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Romanian: liliac vampir — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Romanian: vampir — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Russian: вампи́р (vampír) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Ottoman Turkish: وامپیر (vampir) — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae
  • Vietnamese: dơi quỷ — bat of the subfamily Desmodontinae