dinosaur

American  

[dahy-nuh-sawr] / ˈdaɪ nəˌsɔr /

noun

1. any chiefly terrestrial, herbivorous or carnivorous reptile of the extinct orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, from the Mesozoic Era, certain species of which are the largest known land animals.

2. something that is unwieldy in size, anachronistically outmoded, or unable to adapt to change.

   The old steel mill was a dinosaur that cost the company millions to operate.

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dinosaur British  

/ ˈdaɪnəˌsɔː /

noun

1. any extinct terrestrial reptile of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, many of which were of gigantic size and abundant in the Mesozoic era See also saurischian ornithischian Compare pterosaur plesiosaur

2. a person or thing that is considered to be out of date

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Other Word Forms

• dinosaurian adjective

Etymology

Origin of dinosaur

< New Latin Dinosaurus (1841), originally a genus name. See dino-, -saur

Example Sentences

In a room along the corridor, Highbury children are in a movement class with the help of some brightly coloured animated dinosaurs on a screen.

From BBC

As head of Simon Property Group, he defied critics who said that malls were dinosaurs.

From The Wall Street Journal

Researchers in Taiwan combined heat transfer simulations with physical experiments to better understand how these dinosaurs incubated their eggs.

From Science Daily

This unusual discovery offers a rare look at how animals lived 160 million years ago and sheds new light on how flight evolved in both dinosaurs and modern birds.

From Science Daily

The impact ignited global fires, triggered dramatic climate shifts, and wiped out the dinosaurs along with countless other species.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• antiquated
• archaic
• out-of-date
• outmoded