mosasaur

[ moh-suh-sawr ]

/ ˈmoʊ səˌsɔr /

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noun

any of several extinct carnivorous marine lizards from the Cretaceous Period, having the limbs modified into broad, webbed paddles.

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Origin of mosasaur

<New Latin Mosasaurus (1823) genus name, equivalent to Latin Mosa the Meuse river (where a species was first discovered) + New Latin -saurus-saur

Words nearby mosasaur

mosaicist, Mosaic Law, mosaic map, mosaic vision, mosaic wart, mosasaur, Mosbacher, Mosby, moschate, moschatel, Mosconi

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use mosasaur in a sentence

The ocean ecosystem was thriving at the time, so there may have been dozens of mosasaur species in a single habitat, he says, and they weren’t done producing weird prototypes like Xenodens.
This ancient sea reptile had a slicing bite like no other|Jake Buehler|February 2, 2021|Science News

British Dictionary definitions for mosasaur

mosasaur

mosasaurus (ˌməʊsəˈsɔːrəs)

/ (ˈməʊsəˌsɔː) /

noun plural -saurs or -sauri (-ˈsɔːraɪ)

any of various extinct Cretaceous giant marine lizards of the genus Mosasaurus and related genera, typically having paddle-like limbs

Word Origin for mosasaur

C18: from Latin Mosa the river Meuse (near which remains were first found) + -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 mosasaur

mosasaur

[ mō′sə-sôr′ ]

Any of various medium-sized to large extinct aquatic lizards of the family Mosasauridae of the Cretaceous Period, having modified limbs that served as paddles for swimming. Some species reached lengths of over 15 meters (50 feet).