Inside Out

Endangered species – Glossary

amphibian noun [count] hunter noun [count]
an animal such as a frog or toad that lives mainly someone who chases and kills wild animals
on land, but produces its eggs and develops into its
adult form in water illegal adjective
not allowed by the law
dramatically adverb I was charged with illegal possession of firearms.
suddenly and surprisingly, in a way that’s easy to
notice impact noun [count]
He changed dramatically an effect, or an influence
Her paper discusses the likely impact of global
due to preposition warming on climate change.
because of something
He almost died due to lack of oxygen. ivory noun [uncount]
the yellowish-white bone that an elephant’s tusks are
endangered species noun [count] made of
a type of animal or plant that may soon become a knife with an ivory handle
extinct
latter pronoun
the environment noun [singular] used for referring to the second of two people, things,
the natural world, including the land, water, air, or groups that have just been mentioned
plants, and animals, especially considered as He did well in both schoolwork and sport and won a
something that is affected by human activity number of medals in the latter.
Industrial development is causing widespread
damage to the environment. mammal noun [count]
an animal that is born from its mother’s body, not
extinct adjective from an egg, and drinks its mother’s milk as a baby
an extinct animal, plant, or language no longer Humans, dogs, and cows are all mammals.
exists
The Tasmanian tiger was declared extinct in 1936. protect verb
to keep someone or something safe from harm,
global warming noun [uncount] injury, damage, or loss
the slow increase in the temperature of the Earth This warm jacket will help to protect you against the
caused partly by the greenhouse effect increasing cold.
the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
rhinoceros noun [count]
habitat noun [count] a large animal with very thick grey skin and one or
the type of place that a particular animal usually two horns on its nose. It lives mainly in southern
lives in or a particular plant usually grows in, for Asia and Africa.
example a desert, forest, or lake
a rare bird that is in danger of losing its natural tonne noun [count]
habitat a unit for measuring weight, equal to 1,000
kilograms. A tonne is also called a metric ton
horn noun [count] The price dropped to £700 per tonne.
one of the hard pointed parts that usually grow in a
pair on the heads of some animals, for example tusk noun [count]
cows or goats. one of the two very long pointed teeth on an animal
such as an elephant or a walrus
humanity noun [uncount]
all the people who are living in the world vital adjective
Weapons of this type are a threat to the survival of very important, necessary, or essential
humanity. He played a vital role in setting up the organization.

hunt verb whale noun [count]

to kill animals for food or for their skin or other a very large sea animal that breathes air through a
parts, or for sport hole on the top of its head
Crocodiles were hunted and killed for their teeth. a killer whale
This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net. It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages.
nd
Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008. Definitions from the Macmillan English Dictionary 2 Edition © 2007 and the
Macmillan Essential Dictionary © 2003, A&C Black Publishers Ltd www.macmillandictionaries.com