Tarsier definitions

tär'sē-ər, -sē-ā'
Any of several small insectivorous primates of the genus Tarsius of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, being nocturnal and arboreal and having extremely large round eyes, a long tail, and long digits with nails except for the second and third toes, which have claws.
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Any of a family (Tarsiidae) of small arboreal primates of the East Indies and the Philippines, with very large, gogglelike eyes, and a long, tufted tail: tarsiers are active at night and feed esp. on lizards and insects.
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An insectivorous primate of the Tarsiidae family, having very large eyes and long feet, native mainly to several islands of Southeast Asia.
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Origin of tarsier

French from tarse tarsus (from its elongated ankles) from New Latin tarsus tarsus

Sentence Examples

  • The tarsier feeds chiefly on insects and lizards, sleeps during the day, but is tolerably active at night, moving chiefly by jumping from place to place; an action for which the structure of its hind-legs seems particularly well adapted.

  • In organization the tarsier departs markedly from other lemurs as regards several particulars, and thereby approximates to monkeys and apes.

  • Developed by Team Tarsier, Metronome stands out from the crowd by centering gameplay elements around sounds.

  • TARSIER, the Anglicized form of the scientific name of a small and aberrant lemur-like animal, Tarsius spectrum, inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and islands, and typifying a family.

  • The name tarsier refers to the great elongation of two of the bones of the tarsus, or ankle, and spectrum to the huge goggle-like eyes and attenuated form which constitute two of the most distinctive features of this weird little creature.

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Words near tarsier in the Dictionary