From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmantisman‧tis /ˈmæntɪs/ noun (plural mantises or mantids /-tɪdz/) [countable] HBIa praying mantis
Examples from the Corpus
mantis• Manipulators, fed by red veins of hydraulic fluid, fold elbows-up beside her cheeks like legs of a praying mantis.• I watched with interest - it was like observing the gyrations of an alien species, a praying mantis or something.• He was very tall, perhaps six foot five, all elbow and forearm, like an enormous ginger praying mantis.• For more and more she is coming to resemble a mechanical praying mantis, frozen there in the glass, he wrote.• We learned the swift, circular dance of the praying mantis.• Fascinated by this display, Wong Long captured the mantis and took it home with him.• Neither the eye of an insect or a human is likely to detect the deception until the mantis moves.Origin mantis (1600-1700) Greek “person who sees the future” 