CROCODILE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crocodile mean? 

• CROCODILE (noun)
  The noun CROCODILE has 1 sense:

1. large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters

  Familiarity information: CROCODILE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CROCODILE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("crocodile" is a kind of...):

crocodilian; crocodilian reptile (extant archosaurian reptile)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crocodile"):

African crocodile; Crocodylus niloticus; Nile crocodile (a dangerous crocodile widely distributed in Africa)

Asian crocodile; Crocodylus porosus (estuarine crocodile of eastern Asia and Pacific islands)

Morlett's crocodile (a variety of crocodile)

Holonyms ("crocodile" is a member of...):

Crocodilus; Crocodylus; genus Crocodilus; genus Crocodylus (type genus of the Crocodylidae)

 Context examples 

Surely these are only crocodiles? Alligators! Alligators!

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“What! Did you ever see a crocodile overcome?” inquired my aunt.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

These glands allow their cousins, the crocodiles, to excrete excess salt from marine environments.

(Alligators, rulers of the swamps, link marine and freshwater ecosystems, NSF)

The fossils of middle Cretaceous crocodile relatives from the Rukwa Rift Basin also exhibit distinctive features when compared to forms from elsewhere on the continent.

(Paleontologists discover new species of titanosaurian dinosaur in Tanzania, NSF)

Remains of bizarre relatives of early crocodiles, the oldest evidence for "insect farming," and tantalizing clues about the early evolution of monkeys and apes have been found.

(New dinosaur with heart-shaped tail offers clues to evolution of Africa's ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

It shows up in the fossil record right after a large group of reptiles known as archosaurs split into a bird branch (leading to dinosaurs and eventually birds) and a crocodile branch (leading to alligators and crocodiles).

(Scientists discover fossil of dinosaur ancestor with surprising croc-like appearance, NSF)

“I don't think I ever saw a crocodile,” returned Mr. Dick, mildly.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

There is hardly such a thing as a true crocodile in South America.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Unlike their relatives the crocodiles, alligators don't have salt glands and therefore can't survive full-time in salt water.

(Alligators, rulers of the swamps, link marine and freshwater ecosystems, NSF)

I couldn't quite understand why Peggotty looked so queer, or why she was so ready to go back to the crocodiles.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)