caiman
Americannoun
-
caimans
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of caiman
First recorded in 1570–80; from Spanish caimán, from Carib
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Crocodilians first arrived on the farm in 2006 and species now include, broad snouted caiman, Nile crocodiles and American alligator.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
He observed tigers in India’s Madhya Pradesh, jaguars and caiman in Brazil’s Pantanal and giant pandas in the Chinese province of Sichuan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
All of the hides were from caiman and pythons bred in captivity.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
The costumes of the cachaceros, representing Africans, are phantasmagoric confections of old jaguar pelts, caiman skulls and peccary teeth.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
Under one of the adult caiman’s rear legs, a baby caiman hatches from its egg, and to the left is a coral snake egg.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
Although it resembled an enormous alligator, it belonged to an ancient lineage of crocodilians, the broader group that includes modern crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and gharials.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
The researchers say it would have ambushed its prey from the water's edge, much like crocodiles and caimans do today.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025
And keep an eye out for caimans and boas in the water.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2022
Some parts of the river look like a swamp, with shallow, dark water full of caimans.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 22, 2021
This place has a very large aguada with much eel-grass and very many caimans.
From History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Hard University. Vol. VII. by Philip Ainsworth Means
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
