REPTILE
reptile, reptilian
(noun) any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia including tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, alligators, crocodiles, and extinct forms
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
reptile (plural reptiles)
A cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia.
(figuratively) A mean or grovelling person.
Hyponyms
• See also reptile
Adjective
reptile (not comparable)
Creeping; moving on the belly, or by means of small and short legs.
Grovelling; low; vulgar.
Synonyms
• (creeping, crawling): reptilious, creeping, crawling; reptitious (obsolete)
• (contemptible): See despicable
Anagrams
• Peltier, peitrel, perlite
Source: Wiktionary
Rep"tile (rp"tl;277), a. Etym: [F. reptile, L. reptilis, fr. repere,
reptum, to creep; cf. Lith. reploti; perh. akin to L. serpere. Cf.
Serpent.]
1. Creeping; moving on the belly, or by means of small and short
legs.
2. Hence: Groveling; low; vulgar; as, a reptile race or crew; reptile
vices.
There is also a false, reptile prudence, the result not of caution,
but of fear. Burke.
And dislodge their reptile souls From the bodies and forms of men.
Coleridge.
Rep"tile, n.
1. (Zoöl.)
Definition: An animal that crawls, or moves on its belly, as snakes,, or by
means of small, short legs, as lizards, and the like.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the
public path; But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will tread aside,
and let the reptile live. Cowper.
2. (Zoöl.)
Definition: One of the Reptilia, or one of the Amphibia.
Note: The amphibians were formerly classed with Reptilia, and are
still popularly called reptiles, though much more closely allied to
the fishes.
3. A groveling or very mean person.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition