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ornithorhynchus

American  
[awr-nuh-thuh-ring-kuhs] / ˌɔr nə θəˈrɪŋ kəs /

noun

  1. the platypus.


ornithorhynchus British  
/ ˌɔːnɪθəʊˈrɪŋkəs /

noun

  1. the technical name for duck-billed platypus

"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

Etymology

Origin of ornithorhynchus

1790–1800; < New Latin: genus name, equivalent to ornitho- ornitho- + -rhynchus < Greek rhýnchos bill

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:

But we must state that it is scientifically false to ask oneself if the dog be beautiful, and the ornithorhynchus ugly; if the lily be beautiful, and the artichoke ugly.

From Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic by Benedetto Croce

No, no; you are the great man for acclimatization; you want to make the ornithorhynchus as common as the turkey.

From Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I. by Charles James Lever

The webbed feet of the seal and ornithorhynchus typify the period when the hands and feet of the human embryo are as yet only partly subdivided into fingers and toes.

From Plain Facts for Old and Young by John Harvey Kellogg

There is, too, the Tasmanian devil, a small but formidable animal, something like a badger, and the ornithorhynchus, or duck-billed platypus, which figures on some of the postage stamps.

From Six Letters From the Colonies by R. C. (Robert Cooper) Seaton

The oldest types of animals in Australia are the ornithorhynchus and the echidna, the 'beast with a bill,' and the 'porcupine ant-eater' of popular natural history.

From Falling in Love With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science by Grant Allen

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