From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
mantis
n : predacious long-bodied large-eyed insect of warm regions;
rests with forelimbs raised as in prayer [syn: mantid]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Mantis \Man"tis\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? a prophet.] (Zool.)
Any one of numerous species of voracious orthopterous insects
of the genus Mantis, and allied genera. They are predacious
long-bodied large-eyed insects of warm regions, are
remarkable for their slender grotesque forms, and for holding
their stout anterior legs in a manner suggesting hands folded
in prayer. The common American species is Mantis Carolina.
[1913 Webster]
Mantis shrimp. (Zool.) The Squilla, a tropical marine
burrowing crustacean with large grasping appendages. Also
called mantis crab and mantis prawn.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
MANTIS
<language> A structured, full-function procedural 4GL and
application development system from Cincom. MANTIS enables
the developer to design prototypes, create transaction screens
and reports, define logical data views, write structured
procedures, and dynamically test, correct, document, secure,
and release applications for production in a single,
integrated, interactive session.
MANTIS applications can be enhanced with gOOi, the graphical
object-oriented interface, which creates graphical Windows
representations of existing MANTIS screens.
{Home (http://www.cincom.com/products/mantis/)}.
(2003-08-08)