meerkat

noun

meer·​kat ˈmir-ˌkat 

: any of several African mongooses

especially : a burrowing highly social primarily insectivorous mammal (Suricata suricatta) of southern Africa that is chiefly grayish with faint black markings and lives in usually large colonies

Illustration of meerkat

Examples of meerkat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Visitors will find jaguars, tigers, tree kangaroos, crocodiles, elephants, camels, chimpanzees, rhinos, Florida panthers and meerkats, among many others. —Kari Barnett, Sun Sentinel, 13 May 2025

Are the meerkats that appear near the end of the story real or a hallucination? —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2025

Cutting-edge visual effects create a world of talking photorealistic animals that might as well be a nature documentary, and attention is paid to livening up the humor, with Billy Eichner’s funny, overdramatic meerkat Timon showing up everybody, including Beyoncé. 9. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025

Animals have many signature behaviors: Penguins swim, meerkats dig, baboons socialize and chickens take dust baths. —Rachel Blaser, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Afrikaans, from Dutch, a kind of monkey, from Middle Dutch meercatte monkey, from meer sea + catte cat

First Known Use

1801, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for meerkat

• allot
• barat
• begot
• besought
• bethought
• bloodshot
• boycott
• buckshot
• crackpot
• croat
• culottes
• dashpot

Kids Definition

meerkat

noun

meer·​kat ˈmir-ˌkat 

: a burrowing mammal of southern Africa that feeds chiefly on insects, is grayish with faint black markings, and lives in usually large colonies