scute
Americannoun
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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
Scutig′erous, provided with a scute or scuta; Scū′tiped, having the shanks scaly, of birds.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
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.
