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cayman

American  
[key-muhn] / ˈkeɪ mən /

noun

plural

caymans
  1. a variant of caiman.


cayman British  
/ ˈkeɪmən /

noun

  1. any tropical American crocodilian of the genus Caiman and related genera, similar to alligators but with a more heavily armoured belly: family Alligatoridae (alligators, etc)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cayman

C16: from Spanish caimán, from Carib cayman, probably of African origin

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.

The cayman, living in captivity in the oppressive fug of Peter's apartment, is tiny, just half the size of Margaux's arm.

From The Guardian • Mar. 27, 2011

One of these pets is a cayman, "part alligator, part crocodile".

From The Guardian • Mar. 27, 2011

It was not long, says Biographer Aldington, before the jungle presented only "one more toil for this Hercules of taxidermy" �the capture of a live cayman.

From Time Magazine Archive

As the kits watch, the mother creeps up, whacks the tail of an enormous cayman, then darts back as it lunges for her.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sir Charles Lyell relates that green rafts composed of canes and brush-wood are occasionally carried down the Parana River in South America by inundations, bearing on them the tiger, cayman, squirrels, and other quadrupeds.

From The History of the European Fauna by Scharff, Robert Francis