scute
Americannoun
-
a dermal bony plate, as on an armadillo, or a large horny plate, as on a turtle.
-
a large scale.
noun
Etymology
Origin of scute
1350–1400 for earlier sense “French coin, écu ( def. ) ”; 1840–50 for current senses; Middle English < Latin scūtum “shield”
Vocabulary lists containing scute
Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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Animals (Zoology) - High School
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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.
You might notice growth rings on each scute.
From Washington Post ● May 16, 2016
On a string of leather around Stokes’s neck hung a scute, one of the bony ridges that line an alligator’s back.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2015
Note the substantially reduced scute compliments in the American crocs.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2014
Crocodylus niloticus... you knew this from the dorsal scute pattern, right?
From Scientific American ● Mar. 13, 2013
The phenomenon is here considered to be a specialization of scute shedding—developed in terrestrial and semiterrestrial chelonians—that provides additional protection to the shell against wear and minor injuries.
From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by John M. Legler
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.
