Any of various carnivorous mammals of the family Herpestidae, native to Asia, Africa, and southern Europe and introduced elsewhere, having a slender agile body and a long tail, and noted for the ability to seize and kill venomous snakes.
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Any of various civetlike, Old World carnivores (family Viverridae), esp., any of a sometimes domesticated genus (Herpestes) noted for their ability to kill poisonous snakes, rodents, etc.
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Carnivores of the family Herpestidae and the similar Malagasy mongooses (Galidiinae), ranging in size from small rats to large cats, including the Indian mongoose famed as a predators of venomoussnakes.
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Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
mongoose
Plural:
mongooses
Origin of mongoose
Marathi mangūsof Dravidian origin
From
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Some more or less immune creatures are the mongoose, the hedgehog and the pig, the secretary-bird, the honey buzzard, the stork and probably other snake-eaters.
But the story of the ichneumon or mongoose is a fable.
The same mongoose also refused to eat a kestrel (Cerchneis rupicoloides) and a hobby (Falco subbuteo), although it devoured certain other birds that were given to it.
The yellow mongoose is normally active during the day.
Dog bites are the major origin of infection for humans in developing countries, but other important host animals are the wolf, mongoose, and bat.