smilodon

American

[smahy-luh-don] / ˈsmaɪ ləˌdɒn /

noun

any of several saber-toothed cats of the extinct genus Smilodon, that ranged from California through most of South America during the Pleistocene Epoch and had upper canine teeth more than 6 inches (15 centimeters) long.

Etymology

Origin of smilodon

From New Latin (1842), from Greek smī́l(ē) “knife” + -odōn “-toothed, having teeth” ( see -odont)

Example Sentences

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smilodon

DESCRIPTION.—A short-legged long-bodied animal, with a very elongated skull; the upper canines are the longest in comparison of all living felines, and in this respect it comes nearest to the extinct species Felis smilodon.

From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Robert Armitage Sterndale

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023