crocodile

noun

croc·​o·​dile ˈkrä-kə-ˌdī(-ə)l 

1

a

: any of several large, carnivorous, thick-skinned, long-bodied, aquatic reptiles (family Crocodylidae and especially genus Crocodylus) of tropical and subtropical waters that have a long, tapered, V-shaped snout

broadly : crocodilian

b

: the skin or hide of a crocodile

2

chiefly British : a line of people (such as schoolchildren) usually walking in pairs

Illustration of crocodile

• crocodile 1a

Examples of crocodile in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The crocodiles were attracted to the cries, especially shrieks that sounded more distressed. —Elizabeth Preston, New York Times, 8 Aug. 2023

Two months later, several dozen crocodiles got out of their farm enclosure in Shantou city after flooding. —Lyric Li, Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2023

An animatronic crocodile sits in a small pond surrounded by coins imbued with good luck wishes. —Linze Rice, Chicago Tribune, 8 Sep. 2023

Only tiny populations of gharial crocodiles remain in Nepal and northern India today. —Emily Deletter, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2023

Jars of pickled succulents and quandong jam line the shelves, and the refrigerated display case holds cuts of wild boar, emu, crocodile, and kangaroo. —Veronica M. Stoddart, Travel + Leisure, 13 Aug. 2023

The tale begins in Panama, where a sloth massacres a crocodile before being bagged by poachers. —William Earl, Variety, 30 Aug. 2023

There have been only about 15 specimens of creatures that predate dinos and crocodiles in the fossil record to date — most of them found in the past two decades. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2023

During the first half of that, my attention went mainly to large, visible creatures like bears, crocodiles and bumblebees and to wild places like the Amazon jungle and the Sonoran Desert. —David Quammen, New York Times, 25 July 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English & Latin; Middle English cocodrille, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, alteration of Latin crocodilus, from Greek krokodilos lizard, crocodile, from krokē shingle, pebble + drilos worm; akin to Sanskrit śarkara pebble

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing crocodile

• crocodile bird
• crocodile tears

• crocodile bird
• crocodile tears

Kids Definition

crocodile

noun

croc·​o·​dile ˈkräk-ə-ˌdīl 

1

: any of several large thick-skinned long-bodied reptiles of tropical and subtropical waters compare alligator

2

: the skin or hide of a crocodile

Etymology

from Middle English cocodrille "crocodile," from early French cocodrille (same meaning), from Latin cocodrillus and earlier crocodilus "crocodile," from Greek krokodeilos "crocodile, lizard"

Word Origin

The word crocodile is taken from Greek krokodeilos, which is probably modified from a compound of krokē, "pebble, stone," and an obscure word drilos, which may have meant "worm." According to the ancient Greek writer Herodotus, some Greeks gave this name to the lizards that lived among the stone walls of their farms. When these Greeks visited Egypt, the enormous reptiles of the Nile River reminded them of the lizards and they applied the same name to them. (The more usual ancient Greek word for "lizard" was sauros, which we see in the Latin scientific names of many dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus, and in the word dinosaur itself.) The Romans took Greek krokodeilos into Latin as crocodilus. However, later speakers shifted the r from the first to the third syllable, giving cocodrilus or cocodrillus. It was this form that was taken into medieval French and later into Middle English as cocodrille. Later, as Englishmen became better acquainted with the classical Latin of ancient Rome, the English word was changed to better reflect Latin crocodilus, and cocodrille was eventually forgotten.