reptile

American  

[rep-tahyl, -til] / ˈrɛp taɪl, -tɪl /

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.

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adjective

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

2. groveling, mean, or despicable.

reptile British  

/ 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!

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adjective

1. creeping, crawling, or squirming

2. grovelling or insignificant; mean; contemptible

reptile Scientific  

/ rĕp′tīl′ /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• reptilelike adjective
• reptiloid adjective

Etymology

Origin of reptile

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

Example Sentences

Dr. Marc Jones, a curator of fossil reptiles and amphibians who co authored the research, notes that the Eocene was marked by major climate shifts worldwide.

From Science Daily

The fossils come from a 249 million year old marine community that included extinct reptiles, amphibians, bony fish, and sharks.

From Science Daily

Returning to George, who has his own spacious enclosure, Mrs Mansfield - though always cautious around him - clearly has a soft spot for the reptile.

From BBC

Perceptive viewers may have noticed a mammalian bias in the original — there were no reptiles to be found in its near-perfect society.

From Los Angeles Times

According to the research, this prehistoric sea was filled with enormous marine reptiles, some growing longer than 10 meters, that occupied a previously unseen seventh level of the food chain.

From Science Daily