vam�pire \'vam-,pi(a)r\ n [F, fr. G vampir, of Slav origin; akin to Serb vampir vampire] 1 : the body of a dead person believed to come from the grave at night and suck the blood of persons asleep 2 a : one who lives by preying on others b : a woman who exploits and ruins her lover 3 : any of various So. American bats (genera Desmodus and Diphylla of the family Desmodontidae) structurally adapted for subsisting on blood and dangerous to man and domestic animals esp.as vectors of equine trypanosomiasis and of rabies; also : any of several other bats that do not feed on blood but are sometimes reputed to do so

vam�pyre var of VAMPIRE