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

---

Etymology

Origin of ornithorhynchus

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

Example Sentences

Nevertheless, she dashed down the avenue at the top of her speed, when Joyce called out, tantalisingly, "The last one through the gate is a jibbering ornithorhynchus!"

From The Little Colonel's House Party by Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows)

Mr. Kinsey gave me an ornithorhynchus, and I am taming it.

From Following the Equator, Part 4 by Twain, Mark

Unless, for instance, the person already knew certain characteristics of both birds and animals, he could not interpret the ornithorhynchus as a bird-beaked animal.

From Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education by Ontario. Ministry of Education

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 Kellogg, John Harvey

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 Croce, Benedetto