Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mantis"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mantis \Man"tis\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? a prophet.] (Zo["o]l.)
Any one of numerous species of voracious orthopterous insects
of the genus {Mantis}, and allied genera. They are remarkable
for their slender grotesque forms, and for holding their
stout anterior legs in a manner suggesting hands folded in
prayer. The common American species is {M. Carolina}.
{Mantis shrimp}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Sguilla}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mantis
n : predacious long-bodied large-eyed insect of warm regions;
rests with forelimbs raised as in prayer [syn: {mantid}]
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