The persons who turn vampires are generally wizards,
witches, suicides, and persons who have come to a
violent end, or have been cursed by their parents or
by the church, --Encyc. Brit.
2. Fig.: One who lives by preying on others; an extortioner;
a bloodsucker.
3. (Zo["o]l.) Either one of two or more species of South
American blood-sucking bats belonging to the genera
{Desmodus} and {Diphylla}. These bats are destitute of
molar teeth, but have strong, sharp cutting incisors with
which they make punctured wounds from which they suck the
blood of horses, cattle, and other animals, as well as
man, chiefly during sleep. They have a c[ae]cal appendage
to the stomach, in which the blood with which they gorge
themselves is stored.
4. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of harmless tropical
American bats of the genus {Vampyrus}, especially {V.
spectrum}. These bats feed upon insects and fruit, but
were formerly erroneously supposed to suck the blood of
man and animals. Called also {false vampire}.
{Vampire bat} (Zo["o]l.), a vampire, 3.