dinosaur

noun di·no·saur \ ˈdī-nə-ˌsȯr \

Updated on: 23 May 2018

1 : any of a group (Dinosauria) of extinct often very large chiefly terrestrial carnivorous or herbivorous reptiles of the Mesozoic era

2 : any of various large extinct reptiles (such as ichthyosaurs) other than the true dinosaurs

3 : one that is impractically large, out-of-date, or obsolete

The factory is now a rusting dinosaur.

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dinosaurian

play \ˌdī-nə-ˈsȯr-ē-ən\ adjective

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dinosauric

play \-ˈsȯr-ik\ adjective

See dinosaur defined for English-language learners

See dinosaur defined for kids

Examples of dinosaur in a Sentence

The old factory is now a rusting dinosaur.
The character she plays is a dinosaur—a former beauty queen who is living in the past.

Recent Examples of dinosaur from the Web

There was bigger people in the world, and the dinosaurs were their pets.

— bruce jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle, "An NBA prospect wonders: Europe or Sacramento?," 19 May 2018
Before the dinosaurs and windmills, Amanda Sambach was headed for tennis stardom.

— steve lyttle, charlotteobserver, "Dinosaurs helped put a 15-year-old in this pro golf tournament in Davidson | Charlotte Observer," 16 May 2018
Visitors will get the opportunity to literally walk where the dinosaurs did eons ago.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Enfield Edition," 15 May 2018
THE MUSICAL Chaos is unleashed when one dinosaur in a clan of females spontaneously turns male.

— helena oliviero, ajc, "Things to do in and around Atlanta on Tuesday, May 15," 14 May 2018
Opening Sunday Tales and Scales Head to the Museum of Science to check out the descendants of reptiles that roamed with the dinosaurs.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Five things to do around Boston, May 14-20," 11 May 2018
Of course, long before the dinosaurs, Earth was ruled by microbes for billions of years.

— steve donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor, "'The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs' covers millennia of dinosaur dominance," 4 May 2018
Earlier this year in Greenbelt, Maryland, an amateur paleontologist found a fossil showing distinct proof of mammals and dinosaurs interacting.

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "11-Year-Old Stumbles Across 475-Million-Year-Old Fossil," 4 May 2018
Pixar / Disney | Read more Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return to Isla Nublar to rescue the remaining dinosaurs four years later, after a volcano becomes active.

— times staff, latimes.com, "Every single movie coming out this summer," 26 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dinosaur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of dinosaur

New Latin Dinosaurus, genus name, from Greek deinos terrifying + sauros lizard — more at dire

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1841

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

dinosaur Synonyms

DINOSAUR Defined for English Language Learners

dinosaur

noun

: one of many reptiles that lived on Earth millions of years ago
: someone or something that is no longer useful or current : an obsolete or out-of-date person or thing