Crossword Genius

Animal living off the workers? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

anteater

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'off the workers?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'animal living' is the wordplay.
'animal' becomes 'ant' (ant is a kind of animal).
'living' becomes 'eater' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ant'+'eater'='ANTEATER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for anteater that I've seen before include "Pangolin, for example" , "Scaly insectivore" , "Animal with a long snout and sticky tongue" , "It feeds on termites, etc" , "One's looking for workers" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app