crocodile
(noun) large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with massive jaws and sharp teeth and a body covered with bony plates; of sluggish tropical waters
Source: WordNet® 3.1
crocodile (plural crocodiles)
Any of the predatory amphibious reptiles of the family Crocodylidae; (loosely) a crocodilian, any species of the order Crocodilia, which also includes the alligators, caimans and gavials.
A long line or procession of people (especially children) walking together.
(logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile.
• (predatory amphibious reptile): croc (informal)
crocodile (third-person singular simple present crocodiles, present participle crocodiling, simple past and past participle crocodiled)
(intransitive) To speak one's native language at an Esperanto-language gathering, rather than Esperanto.
Source: Wiktionary
Croc"o*dile (krk"-dl; 277), n. Etym: [L. crocodilus, Gr. crocodile. Cf. Cookatrice.]
1. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A large reptile of the genus Crocodilus, of several species. They grow to the length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and inhabit the large rivers of Africa, Asia, and America. The eggs, laid in the sand, are hatched by the sun's heat. The best known species is that of the Nile (C. vulgaris, or C. Niloticus). The Florida crocodile (C. Americanus) is much less common than the alligator and has longer jaws. The name is also sometimes applied to the species of other related genera, as the gavial and the alligator.
2. (Logic)
Definition: A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile. Crocodile bird (Zoöl.), an African plover (Pluvianus ægypticus) which alights upon the crocodile and devours its insect parasites, even entering its open mouth (according to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.; -- called also Nile bird. It is the trochilos of ancient writers.
– Crocodile tears, false or affected tears; hypocritical sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that crocodiles shed tears over their prey.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 February 2025
(noun) an advantageous purchase; “she got a bargain at the auction”; “the stock was a real buy at that price”
The first coffee-house in Mecca dates back to the 1510s. The beverage was in Turkey by the 1530s. It appeared in Europe circa 1515-1519 and was introduced to England by 1650. By 1675 the country had more than 3,000 coffee houses, and coffee had replaced beer as a breakfast drink.
