dinosaur

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

di·no·saur

(dī′nə-sôr′)

a. Any of various extinct terrestrial reptiles of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia that existed during the Mesozoic Era, including both carnivores and herbivores and often reaching a gigantic size.

b. Any of various other large extinct reptiles, such as an ichthyosaur.

2. A relic of the past: "living dinosaurs of the world of vegetation" (John Olmsted).

3. One that is hopelessly outmoded or unwieldy: "The old, big-city teaching hospital is a dinosaur" (Peggy Breault).

[New Latin Dīnosauria, group name, from Dīnosaurus, former genus name : Greek deinos, monstrous + Greek sauros, lizard.]

di′no·saur′i·an (-sôr′ē-ən) n. & adj.

di′no·sau′ric (-sôr′ĭk) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dinosaur

(ˈdaɪnəˌsɔː)

1. (Palaeontology) any extinct terrestrial reptile of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, many of which were of gigantic size and abundant in the Mesozoic era. See also saurischian, ornithischian Compare pterosaur, plesiosaur

2. a person or thing that is considered to be out of date

[C19: from New Latin dinosaurus, from Greek deinos fearful + sauros lizard]

ˌdinoˈsaurian adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

di•no•saur

art at Dior

(ˈdaɪ nəˌsɔr)

n.

1. any herbivorous or carnivorous reptile of the extinct orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, of the Mesozoic Era: some were the largest known land animals.

2. something that is unwieldy, outmoded, or unable to adapt to change.

[< New Latin Dinosaurus (1841), orig. a genus name]

di`no•sau′ri•an, adj.

di·no·saur

(dī′nə-sôr′)

Any of various extinct reptiles that lived mainly during the Mesozoic Era. Dinosaurs were meat-eating or plant-eating, dwelled mostly on land, and varied from the size of a small dog to the largest land animals that ever lived. See more at ornithischian, saurischian. See Note at bird.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

dinosaur - any of numerous extinct terrestrial reptiles of the Mesozoic era

archosaur, archosaurian, archosaurian reptile - extinct reptiles including: dinosaurs; plesiosaurs; pterosaurs; ichthyosaurs; thecodonts

ornithischian, ornithischian dinosaur - herbivorous dinosaur with a pelvis like that of a bird

iguanodon - massive herbivorous bipedal dinosaur with a long heavy tail; common in Europe and northern Africa; early Cretaceous period

saurischian, saurischian dinosaur - herbivorous or carnivorous dinosaur having a three-pronged pelvis like that of a crocodile

diplodocus - a huge quadrupedal herbivore with long neck and tail; of late Jurassic in western North America

titanosaur, titanosaurian - amphibious quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur with a long thin neck and whiplike tail; of the Cretaceous mostly in the southern hemisphere

argentinosaur - huge herbivorous dinosaur of Cretaceous found in Argentina

ground-shaker, seismosaur - huge herbivorous dinosaur of the Cretaceous found in western North America

dinosaur

noun fuddy-duddy, anachronism, dodo (informal), stick-in-the-mud (informal), antique (informal), fossil (informal), relic (informal), fogy or fogey, back number (informal) Such companies are industrial dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs

allosaur(us), ankylosaur(us), apatosaur(us), atlantosaur(us), brachiosaur(us), brontosaur(us), ceratosaur(us), compsognathus, dimetrodon, diplodocus, dolichosaur(us), dromiosaur(us), elasmosaur(us), hadrosaur(us), ichthyosaur(us), iguanodon or iguanodont, megalosaur(us), mosasaur(us), oviraptor, plesiosaur(us), pteranodon, pterodactyl or pterosaur, protoceratops, stegodon or stegodont, stegosaur(us), theropod, titanosaur(us), trachodon, triceratops, tyrannosaur(us), velociraptor

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

ديناصورديناصُور

dinosaurus

dinosaurdinosaurus

Dinosaurier Saurier

δεινόσαυρος

dinosaurio

dinosaurus

dinosaurushirmulisko

dinosaure

dinosaur

dinoszaurusz

risaeîla

dinosauro

恐竜

공룡

dinozauras

dinozaurs

dinosaurus

dinozaver

dinosaurie

ไดโนเสาร์

dinozordinazor

динозавр

con khủng long

恐龙

dinosaur

[ˈdaɪnəsɔːʳ] N

1. (= reptile) → dinosaurio m

2. (= old-fashioned person) → carcamal mf; (= old-fashioned organization) → reliquia f del pasado

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

dinosaur

[ˈdaɪnəsɔː^r] n

(= animal) → dinosaure m

(= obsolete organization) → dinosaure m

dinosaur

n → Dinosaurier m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

dinosaur

[ˈdaɪnəsɔːʳ] n → dinosauro

dinosaur

(ˈdainəsoː) noun

any of several types of extinct giant reptile.

dinosaur

→ ديناصُور dinosaurus dinosaur Dinosaurier δεινόσαυρος dinosaurio dinosaurus dinosaure dinosaur dinosauro 恐竜 공룡 dinosaurus dinosaur dinozaur dinossauro динозавр dinosaurie ไดโนเสาร์ dinozor con khủng long 恐龙

References in classic literature ?

This is the tale of Bradley after he left Fort Dinosaur upon the west coast of the great lake that is in the center of the island.

Through the heavy Caspakian air, beneath the swollen sun, the five men marched northwest from Fort Dinosaur, now waist-deep in lush, jungle grasses starred with myriad gorgeous blooms, now across open meadow-land and parklike expanses and again plunging into dense forests of eucalyptus and acacia and giant arboreous ferns with feathered fronds waving gently a hundred feet above their heads.

According to the best of his calculations they had made sufficient easting during the past two days to have brought them to a point almost directly north of Fort Dinosaur and as nothing could be gained by retracing their steps along the base of the cliffs he decided to strike due south through the unexplored country between them and the fort.

To the best of Bradley's reckoning they were some twenty-five miles north of Fort Dinosaur, and that they might reach the fort on the following day, they plodded on until darkness overtook them.

They did not discuss it--they did not even mention it--yet all day long the thing was uppermost in the mind of each and mingled with it a similar picture with himself as victim should they fail to make Fort Dinosaur before dark.

The landscape was familiar--each recognized it immediately and knew that that smoky column marked the spot where Dinosaur had stood.

It was almost in a frenzy of fear that they broke through the final fringe of jungle and stood at last upon the verge of the open meadow a half-mile from Fort Dinosaur.

Brady trembled like a leaf as he crossed himself and gave silent thanks, for there before them stood the sturdy ramparts of Dinosaur and from inside the inclosure rose a thin spiral of smoke that marked the location of the cook-house.

Within hailing distance they set up such a loud shouting that presently heads appeared above the top of the parapet and soon answering shouts were rising from within Fort Dinosaur. A moment later three men issued from the inclosure and came forward to meet the survivors and listen to the hurried story of the eleven eventful days since they had set out upon their expedition to the barrier cliffs.

View in context

The inscription beneath it runs: `Probable appearance in life of the Jurassic Dinosaur Stegosaurus.

View in context

I can visualize the entire scene--the apelike Grimaldi men huddled in their filthy caves; the huge pterodactyls soaring through the heavy air upon their bat-like wings; the mighty dinosaurs moving their clumsy hulks beneath the dark shadows of preglacial forests--the dragons which we considered myths until science taught us that they were the true recollections of the first man, handed down through countless ages by word of mouth from father to son out of the unrecorded dawn of humanity."

View in context

Now when we are attacked by large flying reptiles we run beneath spreading trees; when land carnivora threaten us, we climb into trees, and we have learned not to fire at any of the dinosaurs unless we can keep out of their reach for at least two minutes after hitting them in the brain or spine, or five minutes after puncturing their hearts--it takes them so long to die.