stegosaur

[ steg-uh-sawr ]

noun

a plant-eating dinosaur of the genus Stegosaurus, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, having a heavy, bony armor and a row of bony plates along its back, and growing to a length of 20 to 40 feet (6–12 meters).

Origin of stegosaur

<New Latin Stegosaurus (1877); see stego-, -saur

Words Nearby stegosaur

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stegosaur in a sentence

The stegosaur is one of the most singular and most familiar representatives of the group in the Jurassic.
The Story of Evolution | Joseph McCabe

British Dictionary definitions for stegosaur

stegosaur

stegosaurus (ˌstɛɡəˈsɔːrəs)

/ (ˈstɛɡəˌsɔː) /

noun

any quadrupedal herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur of the suborder Stegosauria, esp any of the genus Stegosaurus, of Jurassic and early Cretaceous times, having an armour of bony plates

Origin of stegosaur

C19: from Greek stegos roof + -saur

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for stegosaur

stegosaur

[ stĕg′ə-sôr′ ]

Any of several large herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs of the group Stegosauria of the Jurassic and early Cretaceous Periods. The largest genus, Stegosaurus, had a tail with two horizontal spikes for defense, and an arched back with an alternating double row of large, triangular, upright bony plates. Stegosaurs grew over 6 m (20 ft) long, but had extremely small heads with brains the size of a walnut. The hindquarters were controlled by a neural ganglion in the hip region that was larger than the brain.

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