reptile

[rep-tahyl, -til]

noun

1. any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia, comprising the turtles, snakes, lizards, crocodilians, amphisbaenians, tuatara, and various extinct members including the dinosaurs.

2. (loosely) any of various animals that crawl or creep.

3. a groveling, mean, or despicable person.

adjective

1. of or resembling a reptile; creeping or crawling.

2. groveling, mean, or despicable.

reptile

/ ˈrɛptaɪl /

noun

1. any of the cold-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Reptilia , characterized by lungs, an outer covering of horny scales or plates, and young produced in amniotic eggs. The class today includes the tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, and crocodiles; in Mesozoic times it was the dominant group, containing the dinosaurs and related forms

2. a grovelling insignificant person

   you miserable little reptile!

adjective

1. creeping, crawling, or squirming

2. grovelling or insignificant; mean; contemptible

reptile

1. Any of various cold-blooded vertebrates of the class Reptilia, having skin covered with scales or horny plates, breathing air with lungs, and usually having a three-chambered heart. Unlike amphibians, whose eggs are fertilized outside the female body, reptiles reproduce by eggs that are fertilized inside the female. Though once varied, widespread, and numerous, reptilian lineages, including the pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and dinosaurs, have mostly become extinct (though birds are living descendants of dinosaurs). The earliest reptiles were the cotylosaurs (or stem reptiles) of the late Mississippian or early Pennsylvanian Period, from which mammals evolved. Modern reptiles include crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards.

Other Word Forms

• reptilelike adjective
• reptiloid adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reptile¹

1350–1400; Middle English reptil < Late Latin rēptile, noun use of neuter of rēptilis creeping, equivalent to Latin rēpt ( us ) (past participle of rēpere to creep) + -ilis -ile

Word History and Origins

Origin of reptile¹

C14: from Late Latin reptilis creeping, from Latin rēpere to crawl

Example Sentences

These remains indicate that enormous sharks shared the top of the food chain with giant marine reptiles during the Age of Dinosaurs.

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They built 3D brain models for 18 of these reptiles and measured the optic nerves in each.

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The reptile attacks again, but the Obayifo is quicker than expected.

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From amphibians and reptiles to birds and mammals, no biological class is immune.

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Seeking clarity, he brought the fossil to Professor Max Hecht, a reptile expert at the American Museum of Natural History.

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