alligator (redirected from Alligators)

al·li·ga·tor  (l-gtr)

n.

1. Either of two large reptiles, Alligator mississipiensis of the southeast United States or A. sinensis of China, having sharp teeth and powerful jaws. They differ from crocodiles in having a broader, shorter snout.

2. Leather made from the hide of one of these reptiles.

3. A tool or fastener having strong, adjustable, often toothed jaws.

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[Alteration of Spanish el lagarto, the lizard : el, the (from Latin ille, that; see al-¹ in Indo-European roots) + lagarto, lizard (from Latin lacertus).]

Word History: In The Travailes of an Englishman, published in 1568, Job Hortop says that "in this river we killed a monstrous Lagarto or Crocodile." This killing gives rise to the first recorded instance of alligator in English, obviously in a different form from the one familiar to modern speakers. Alligator, which comes to us from Spanish el lagarto, "the lizard," was modified in pronunciation and form in several ways before taking on the form alligator. Such changes, referred to by linguists as taboo deformation, are not uncommon in a name for something that is feared and include, for example, the change in sequence of the r and t that occurred between el lagarto and alligator. An interesting parallel case is crocodile, which appears in Spanish, for example, as cocodrilo, with a similar difference in the sequence of the r. The earliest recorded form of alligator that is similar to ours appears in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (First Folio, 1623): "In his needie shop a tortoyrs hung,/An Allegater stuft."

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alligator

Noun

a large reptile of the southern US, similar to the crocodile but with a shorter broader snout [Spanish el lagarto the lizard]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	alligator - leather made from alligator's hide leather - an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning
	2.	alligator - either of two amphibious reptiles related to crocodiles but with shorter broader snouts gator crocodilian, crocodilian reptile - extant archosaurian reptile genus Alligator - type genus of the Alligatoridae Alligator mississipiensis, American alligator - large alligator of the southeastern United States Alligator sinensis, Chinese alligator - small alligator of the Yangtze valley of China having unwebbed digits
Verb	1.	alligator - crack and acquire the appearance of alligator hide, as from weathering or improper application; of paint and varnishes crack - break partially but keep its integrity; "The glass cracked"

Translations

alligator [ˈælɪgeɪtəʳ] n → caimán m

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alligator [ˈælɪgeɪtəʳ] n → alligator m

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alligator [ˈælɪgeɪtəʳ] n → Alligator m

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alligator [ˈælɪgeɪtəʳ] n → alligatore m