warm-blooded
/ˌwɔːm ˈblʌdɪd/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌwɔːrm ˈblʌdɪd/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈwȯrm-ˈblə-dəd How to pronounce warm-blooded (audio)/ (ame, mw)
warm-blooded — adjective
1. used to describe creatures whose internal heat stays at a nearly constant level,
used to describe creatures whose internal heat stays at a nearly constant level, regardless of whether the surrounding air or water is hot or cold — for example, mammals and birds keep the same core temperature on a very hot summer day and a freezing winter night.
Cats and dogs are warm-blooded animals, so their body heat stays the same on cold nights.
collocation: warm-blooded animals
Reptiles are not warm-blooded, so the zookeeper keeps a heat lamp in their enclosure.
contrast with cold-blooded reptiles
In biology class, the teacher asked Nila to name three warm-blooded animals that are not birds.
Being a warm-blooded mammal, the fox must eat more food than a snake of the same size.
Warm-blooded creatures use a lot of energy just to keep their body temperature steady in cold weather.
- homeothermic
formal scientific term used in biology textbooks; less common in everyday English
- endothermic
technical term describing heat generated from within the body; used in physiology rather than general classification
- cold-blooded
everyday opposite; describes animals whose body temperature matches the environment (e.g. reptiles, fish)
- ectothermic
formal scientific antonym; describes animals that get heat from external sources
文法句型
warm-blooded + noun (attributive)
be + warm-blooded (predicative)
用法筆記
This word is most common in biology contexts when classifying animals. The noun form 'warm-bloodedness' is rare in everyday speech. Use 'warm-blooded' attributively (e.g. 'warm-blooded animals') more often than predicatively (e.g. 'these animals are warm-blooded'), though both are correct.