reptile

[ rep-tahyl, -til ]

noun

1. any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia, comprising the turtles, snakes, lizards, crocodilians, amphisbaenians, tuatara, and various extinct members including the dinosaurs.
2. (loosely) any of various animals that crawl or creep.
3. a groveling, mean, or despicable person.

adjective

1. of or resembling a reptile; creeping or crawling.
2. groveling, mean, or despicable.

reptile

/ ˈrɛptaɪl /

noun

1. any of the cold-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Reptilia , characterized by lungs, an outer covering of horny scales or plates, and young produced in amniotic eggs. The class today includes the tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, and crocodiles; in Mesozoic times it was the dominant group, containing the dinosaurs and related forms
2. a grovelling insignificant person

   you miserable little reptile!

adjective

1. creeping, crawling, or squirming
2. grovelling or insignificant; mean; contemptible

reptile

/ rĕp′tīl′ /

1. Any of various cold-blooded vertebrates of the class Reptilia, having skin covered with scales or horny plates, breathing air with lungs, and usually having a three-chambered heart. Unlike amphibians, whose eggs are fertilized outside the female body, reptiles reproduce by eggs that are fertilized inside the female. Though once varied, widespread, and numerous, reptilian lineages, including the pterosaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and dinosaurs, have mostly become extinct (though birds are living descendants of dinosaurs). The earliest reptiles were the cotylosaurs (or stem reptiles) of the late Mississippian or early Pennsylvanian Period, from which mammals evolved. Modern reptiles include crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards.

Other Words From

• rep·tile·like adjective
• rep·ti·loid [rep, -tl-oid], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of reptile¹

1350–1400; Middle English reptil < Late Latin rēptile, noun use of neuter of rēptilis creeping, equivalent to Latin rēpt ( us ) (past participle of rēpere to creep) + -ilis -ile

Word History and Origins

Origin of reptile¹

C14: from Late Latin reptilis creeping, from Latin rēpere to crawl

Example Sentences

"You can see that the fibula of birds is moving completely differently from that of other living reptiles," Manafzadeh said.

From Science Daily

Native reptiles and birds, including the Be’er Sheva fringe-fingered lizard, the pin-tailed sandgrouse and the spectacled warbler, are now fall easy prey for crows and jays perched in the tree branches.

From Salon

The pterosaurs are extinct flying reptiles that lived alongside their close relatives, the dinosaurs.

From Science Daily

The number of threatened trees now outweighs all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians put together, according to the latest update to the official extinction red list.

From BBC

After all, he’d seen a far larger and more menacing reptile in a dugout.

From Los Angeles Times