Main Entry:

mo·sa·saur

Pronunciation:

\ˈmō-zə-ˌsȯr\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

New Latin Mosasaurus, from Latin Mosa the river Meuse + Greek sauros lizard

Date:

1841

: any of a family (Mosasauridae) of very large extinct marine fish-eating lizards of the Upper Cretaceous with limbs modified into paddles that are related to the recent monitor lizards