Definition of "caniform"

caniform

adjective
not comparable
1. Characteristic of, or relating to the Caniformia.
noun
plural caniforms
1. Any carnivore of the suborder Caniformia, which are regarded as dog-like.
  Quotations
  Modern carnivores appeared as well, diverging into the feliforms (cats, hyaenas, and mongooses) and caniforms (dogs, bears, raccoons, weasels, and seals).
  1997, Peter D. Ward, The Call of Distant Mammoths: Why the Ice Age Mammals Disappeared‎, page 73
  It is representative of a group of early carnivores, the miacids, that were the ancestors of modern caniforms: the canids (that is, the dogs, coyotes, wolves, foxes, and jackals) and a large group made up of the bear, raccoon, and weasel families.
  2011, John P. Rafferty, editor, The Cenozoic Era: Age of Mammals‎, page 93
  Some paleontologists argue that in fact they[extinct nimravids] are closer to caniforms, while others place them as a distant relative of the feliforms.
  2013, Donald R. Prothero, Bringing Fossils to Life: An Introduction to Paleobiology‎, page 544