herpetologist
Americannoun
Explanation
A herpetologist is someone who specializes in the study of reptiles and amphibians. If it slithers around on its belly, a herpetologist will know what it is. The word herpetologist comes from the Greek root herpeton meaning "creeping animal." When a herpetologist goes out searching for reptiles and amphibians, he is herping, or peeking under rocks and in the mud, hoping to find a slithery creature lingering there. What will he find? Turtles, snakes, alligators, salamanders, etc. These reptiles and amphibians are a herpetologist's forte.
Vocabulary lists containing herpetologist
Turtle Boy
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Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken?
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 1–June 7, 2025
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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.
Chan is a herpetologist, meaning he studies amphibians and reptiles such as frogs, turtles, lizards, and snakes.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 9, 2026
“So being apparent is sort of a double-edged sword,” said Robert Espinoza, a herpetologist at Cal State Northridge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2025
“This is a very thorough study, and I full trust the genetic results,” says Wolfgang Böhme, an honorary staff member and senior herpetologist at the Museum Koenig in Germany in an email.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 16, 2024
Using 3D x-ray scans of their mouths, herpetologist William Ryerson of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine identified two distinct groups, each correlated with different methods of striking prey.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 10, 2024
He would be a physiologist or a biologist or an anatomist or even a herpetologist, but none should call him “scientist.”
From The Ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley) A Narrative of the First Complete Ascent of the Highest Peak in North America by Stuck, Hudson
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.
