Biology-Online.org
car·ni·vore (kär'n?-vôr', -vor') n.
A flesh-eating animal.
Any of various predatory, flesh-eating mammals of the order Carnivora,
including the dogs, cats, bears, weasels, hyenas, and raccoons.
One who victimizes or injures others; a predator.
An insectivorous plant.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Main Entry: car·ni·vore
Pronunciation: 'kär-n&-"vor
Function: noun
Etymology: ultimately from Latin carnivorus
1 : any of an order (Carnivora) of typically flesh-eating mammals that
includes dogs, foxes, bears, raccoons, and cats; broadly : a carnivorous
animal
2 : a carnivorous plant
Wikipedia
Carnivore
This tiger's sharp teeth and strong jaws are the classical physical traits
expected from carnivorous mammalian predatorsA carnivore (IPA: ['k?(r)niv?(r)]),
meaning 'meat eater' (Latin carne meaning 'flesh' and vorare meaning 'to
devour'), is an animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether
it comes from animals living or dead (scavenging). Some animals are considered
carnivores even if their diets contain very little meat (e.g., predatory
arthropods such as spiders or mantids that may rarely consume small vertebrate
prey). Animals that subsist on a diet consisting only of meat are referred
to as obligate carnivores.
The word also refers to the mammals of the Order Carnivora,
many (but not all) of which fit the first definition. Bears are an example
of members of Carnivora that are not true carnivores. Carnivores that
eat insects primarily or exclusively are called insectivores, while those
that eat fish primarily or exclusively are called piscivores.
There are also several genera and a few hundred species
of carnivorous plants, though these are primarily insectivorous.
The theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex were mostly
obligate carnivores, while sauropod and ornithischian dinosaurs were mostly
herbivorous.
Characteristics commonly 'associated' with carnivores
include organs for capturing and disarticulating prey (teeth and claws
serve these functions in many vertebrates) and status as a hunter. In
truth, these assumptions may be misleading, as some carnivores do not
hunt and are scavengers (though most hunting carnivores will scavenge
when the opportunity exists). Thus they do not have the characteristics
associated with hunting carnivores.