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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Smilodon, the catty predator whose ancestors emerged in the early Miocene, will not smile on us again.

From Salon • Feb. 17, 2025

Paleontologists still do not know how saber-toothed animals like Smilodon hunted prey without breaking their unwieldy sabers.

From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2024

And if history is any indication, they may get a lot bigger—the largest feline ever was the South American saber-toothed cat, Smilodon populator, which weighed nearly half a ton!

From Slate • Oct. 23, 2023

Smilodon outnumber herbivores at the La Brea pits, leading scientists to speculate that they hunted in packs.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 3, 2021

“Everything that we looked at basically told us that Smilodon and Homotherium are totally different cats,” said Larisa DeSantis, the paper’s lead author and a paleontologist at Vanderbilt University.

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2021

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