sauropod
Americannoun
adjective
noun
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One of the two types of saurischian dinosaurs, widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Sauropods were plant-eaters and often grew to tremendous size, having a stout body with thick legs, long slender necks with a small head, and long tails. Sauropods included the apatosaurus (brontosaurus) and brachiosaurus.
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Compare theropod
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sauropod
1890–95; < New Latin Sauropoda suborder name < Greek saûro ( s ) lizard + -poda -poda; cf. -pod
Vocabulary lists containing sauropod
Paleontology: Dinosaurs - Introductory
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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.
The sauropod fossils were described by researchers from the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis in the peer-reviewed Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
By lifting the front of the body into the air, a sauropod would have appeared even larger and more threatening to approaching predators.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
Explaining the tracks, she said: "There were four trackways of sauropod footprints and none of them were the same size as each other."
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
One area of the site even reveals where the paths of a sauropod and megalosaurus once crossed, with Nichols saying the footprints were on the "same bedding plane".
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Or the sauropod might decide to dive beneath the surface, and well, that’d be that.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
