rep·tile

(rĕp′tīl′, -tĭl)

1. Any of various usually cold-blooded egg-laying vertebrates often grouped in the class Reptilia, having dry skin covered with scales or horny plates and breathing by means of lungs, and including the snakes, lizards, crocodilians, and turtles. In some classification systems, birds are considered to be reptiles because they are descended from reptilian dinosaurs.

2. A person regarded as contemptible or obsequious.

[Middle English reptil, from Old French reptile, from Late Latin rēptile, from neuter of Latin rēptilis, creeping, from rēptus, past participle of rēpere, to creep.]

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.

reptile

(ˈrɛptaɪl)

1. (Animals) 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. (Zoology) 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

3. a grovelling insignificant person: you miserable little reptile!.

adj

4. creeping, crawling, or squirming

5. grovelling or insignificant; mean; contemptible

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

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

rep•tile

(ˈrɛp tɪl, -taɪl)

n.

1. any air-breathing vertebrate of the class Reptilia, characterized by a three-chambered heart, a completely bony skeleton, and a covering of dry scales or horny plates: includes the snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodilians, and various extinct forms.

2. (loosely) any of various animals that crawl or creep.

3. a groveling, mean, or despicable person.

adj.

4. groveling, mean, or despicable.

[1350–1400; Middle English reptil < Late Latin rēptile, n. use of neuter of rēptilis creeping = Latin rēp(ere) to creep) + -tilis -tile]

rep·tile

(rĕp′tīl′)

Any of various cold-blooded vertebrate animals that have skin covered with scales or horny plates, breathe air with lungs, and usually have a three-chambered heart. Reptiles include the crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards.

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.

reptile

reptile, amphibian - A reptile has dry, scaly skin, while an amphibian has moist skin.
herptile - Another word for reptile or amphibian.
spear - The sting of a reptile or insect.
herpetology - The branch of zoology dealing with amphibians and reptiles, based on Greek herpeton, "creeping thing."

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

reptile - any cold-blooded vertebrate of the class Reptilia including tortoises, turtles, snakes, lizards, alligators, crocodiles, and extinct forms

reptilian

craniate, vertebrate - animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium

class Reptilia, Reptilia - class of cold-blooded air-breathing vertebrates with completely ossified skeleton and a body usually covered with scales or horny plates; once the dominant land animals

anapsid, anapsid reptile - primitive reptile having no opening in the temporal region of the skull; all extinct except turtles

diapsid, diapsid reptile - reptile having a pair of openings in the skull behind each eye

Diapsida, subclass Diapsida - used in former classifications to include all living reptiles except turtles; superseded by the two subclasses Lepidosauria and Archosauria

synapsid, synapsid reptile - extinct reptile having a single pair of lateral temporal openings in the skull

reptile

noun

Reptiles

adder, agama, agamid, alligator, amphisbaena, anaconda or (Caribbean) camoodi, anole, asp, bandy-bandy, blacksnake, blind snake, blue racer, bluetongue, boa, boa constrictor, boomslang, box turtle, brown snake, bull snake or gopher snake, bushmaster, carpet snake or python, cayman or caiman, cerastes, chameleon, chuckwalla, cobra, cobra de capello, constrictor, copperhead, coral snake, crocodile, death adder, diamondback, diamondback terrapin, or diamondback turtle, diamond snake, dugite, elapid, fer-de-lance, flying lizard or flying dragon, frilled lizard, gaboon viper, galliwasp, garter snake, gavial, gharial, or garial, gecko, giant tortoise, Gila monster, glass snake, goanna, grass snake, green turtle, habu, harlequin snake, hawksbill or hawksbill turtle, hognose snake or puff adder, hoop snake, horned toad or lizard, horned viper, iguana, indigo snake, jew lizard, bearded lizard, or bearded dragon, kabaragoya or Malayan monitor, king cobra or hamadryad, king snake, Komodo dragon or Komodo lizard, krait, leatherback or (Brit.) leathery turtle, leguan, lizard, loggerhead or loggerhead turtle, mamba, massasauga, milk snake, moloch, monitor, mud turtle, perentie or perenty, pit viper, puff adder, python, racer, rat snake, rattlesnake or (U.S. & Canad. informal) rattler, ringhals, rock snake or rock python, sand lizard, sand viper, sea snake, sidewinder, skink, slowworm or blindworm, smooth snake, snake, snapping turtle, soft-shelled turtle, swift, taipan, terrapin, tiger snake, tokay, tortoise, tree snake, tuatara or (technical) sphenodon, turtle, viper, wall lizard, water moccasin, moccasin, or cottonmouth, water snake, whip snake, worm lizard

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

Translations

reptiel

زاحِفزَحّافَة

влечуги

plaz

krybdyrreptil

Reptil

ερπετό

reptilioj

reptilsauropsida

roomajad

خزندگان

matelija

reptile

सर्पन्शिलसरीसृप

gmazgmazovi

hüllő

reptil

skriðdýrskriîdÿr

rettile simile a rettilereptilia

爬虫類

파충류爬蟲類

reptilia

roplysropliams būdingas

rāpuļi

ഉരഗം

reptilă

гад рептилия прeсмыкaющeeся пресмыкающееся

plaz

plazilec

reptil

สัตว์เลื้อยคลาน

sürüngen

плазуни

động vật bò sátloài bò sát

爬行动物

reptile

[ˈreptaɪl] N → reptil m

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

reptile

[ˈrɛptaɪl] n → reptile mreptile house n → vivarium m

reptile

n → Reptil nt, → Kriechtier nt; (fig pej) → Kriecher m (pej)

adj → Reptilien-, reptilartig; reptile house → Reptilienhaus nt; reptile species → Reptilienart f

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

reptile

[ˈrɛptaɪl] n → rettile m

reptile

(ˈreptail) noun

any of the group of cold-blooded animals to which snakes, lizards, crocodiles etc belong.

repˈtilian (-ˈti-) adjective

reptile

→ زاحِف plaz krybdyr Reptil ερπετό reptil matelija reptile gmaz rettile 爬虫類 파충류 reptiel krypdyr gad réptil рептилия reptil สัตว์เลื้อยคลาน sürüngen loài bò sát 爬行动物