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

A remarkably complete skeleton uncovered along the UK's Jurassic Coast has been identified as a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur -- a group of prehistoric marine reptiles that once dominated the world's oceans.

From Science Daily

The team discovered that the structure of the skull forced nerves and blood vessels to follow a different pathway than in most reptiles.

From Science Daily

A Sydney man who tried to post native lizards, dragons and other reptiles out of Australia in bags of popcorn and biscuit tins has been sentenced to eight years in jail, authorities said Tuesday.

From Barron's

It was one of the last major undeveloped wetlands in Southern California and a breeding and feeding site for 370 bird species, along with fish, reptiles, rabbits, foxes, coyotes and other animals.

From Los Angeles Times

It may have resembled a lizard, but it lived before reptiles and mammals branched into separate evolutionary paths, so it was not technically a reptile.

From Science Daily