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Definition of cheiroptera : An order of mammalia, including the bats, having four toes of each of the anterior limbs elongated and connected by a web, so that they can be used like wings in flying. See Bat.

Usage examples:

• Hence the scientific name Cheiroptera. - "The Old Riddle and the Newest Answer", John Gerard.
• A portion of the Cheiroptera feeds on insects, and another on fruits; one genus subsists chiefly on blood. - "Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals", R. Lee.
• It is always possible, therefore, that some types of Cheiroptera, originally derived from the main land, have survived in islands, although they have gradually died out on the continents from whence they came; so that it would be rash to infer that there has been time for the creation, whether by variation or other agency, of new species or genera in the islands in question. - "The Antiquity of Man", Charles Lyell.