gavial
Britishnoun
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a large fish-eating Indian crocodilian, Gavialis gangeticus, with a very long slender snout: family Gavialidae
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a SE Asian crocodile, Tomistoma schlegeli, similar to but smaller than the gavial
Etymology
Origin of gavial
C19: from French, from Hindi ghariyāl
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.
The only non-caiman was a gavial resembling modern ones in India, with a long, thin snout for fish-catching.
From Reuters ● Feb. 24, 2015
The fierce gavial genus is Asian, and abounds in the rivers of India.
From Four Months in a Sneak-Box by Bishop, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes)
Alligators are found in most of the rivers, and the gavial is less frequently met with.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3 "Borgia, Lucrezia" to "Bradford, John" by Various
All at once the disengaged arm made a long clutch forward and grasped the upper jaw of the gavial.
From The Castaways by Pearse, Lolbran
The huge reptile which threatened Helen’s safety was twenty feet in length, but the gavial sometimes attains the extraordinary dimensions of eight to nine yards.
From The Castaways by Pearse, Lolbran
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.
