plesiosaur

[ plee-see-uh-sawr ]

noun
  1. any marine reptile of the extinct genus Plesiosaurus, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, having a small head, a long neck, four paddlelike limbs, and a short tail.

Origin of plesiosaur

1
<New Latin Plesiosaurus (1821), equivalent to Greek plēsí(os) near, close to + -o--o- + saûros-saur; originally so named because of its conjectured nearness to modern reptiles, relative to the ichthyosaurs

Other words from plesiosaur

  • ple·si·o·sau·roid, adjective

Words Nearby plesiosaur

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How to use plesiosaur in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for plesiosaur

plesiosaur

/ (ˈpliːsɪəˌsɔː) /


noun
  1. any of various extinct marine reptiles of the order Sauropterygia, esp any of the suborder Plesiosauria, of Jurassic and Cretaceous times, having a long neck, short tail, and paddle-like limbs: See also ichthyosaur Compare dinosaur, pterosaur

Origin of plesiosaur

1
C19: from New Latin plēsiosaurus, from Greek plēsios near + sauros a lizard

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

Scientific definitions for plesiosaur

plesiosaur

[ plēsē-ə-sôr ]


  1. Any of various large, extinct marine reptiles of the genus Plesiosaurus and related genera of the Mesozoic Era. Most plesiosaurs had a small head on a long neck and a broad body with paddlelike limbs; one group had a large head on a short neck. The exact relationship between plesiosaurs and other reptiles is not known.

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