REPTILES

Noun

reptiles

plural of reptile

Anagrams

• epistler, peitrels, peltries, perlites, repliest, spirelet

Source: Wiktionary


REPTILE

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



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Word of the Day

21 April 2025

ENCYCLOPEDIA

(noun) a reference work (often in several volumes) containing articles on various topics (often arranged in alphabetical order) dealing with the entire range of human knowledge or with some particular specialty


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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