: any of a suborder (Sauria) of reptiles including the lizards and in older classifications the crocodiles and various extinct forms (such as the dinosaurs and ichthyosaurs) that resemble lizards
saurian
adjective
Examples of saurian in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The physical disparities among ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and other marine reptiles underscore the fact that there was no single, optimal way to be a saurian in the water.
—
Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2025
During the great Age of Reptiles when dinosaurs ruled the land, there were also fantastic saurian in the seas.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2020
Every saurian in the river, and a hundred or two from the Luangwa itself, therefore, came to dine on the defunct hippo.
—Warren Page, Field & Stream, 13 Nov. 2020
Texas' alligator population, down to just a few thousand barely a half-century ago, currently stands at as many as a half-million, with the wetland-dependent saurians documented in 123 of the state's 254 counties.
—Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, 24 May 2018
Owen concluded that Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and a third species called Hylaeosaurus were all united by skeletal similarities in the hip to the exclusion of other saurians of the same time.
—Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 8 Dec. 2017
Dozens of schlock horror movies have banked on the terror of being snaffled up by the toothy saurians, but the reptilian ambush predators of Olduvai Gorge actually did paleontologists a valuable service.
—Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 30 Jan. 2017
This creature was a connecting point between saurians and birds, but where to draw the line?
—Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 8 May 2017
The fossils were originally excavated in the 1934 and briefly described nine years later, but experts didn't realize the significance of the saurian until the new study.
—Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 5 May 2017
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Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2025
During the great Age of Reptiles when dinosaurs ruled the land, there were also fantastic saurian in the seas.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2020
Every saurian in the river, and a hundred or two from the Luangwa itself, therefore, came to dine on the defunct hippo.
—Warren Page, Field & Stream, 13 Nov. 2020
Texas' alligator population, down to just a few thousand barely a half-century ago, currently stands at as many as a half-million, with the wetland-dependent saurians documented in 123 of the state's 254 counties.
—Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle, 24 May 2018
Owen concluded that Megalosaurus, Iguanodon and a third species called Hylaeosaurus were all united by skeletal similarities in the hip to the exclusion of other saurians of the same time.
—Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 8 Dec. 2017
Dozens of schlock horror movies have banked on the terror of being snaffled up by the toothy saurians, but the reptilian ambush predators of Olduvai Gorge actually did paleontologists a valuable service.
—Brian Switek, Smithsonian, 30 Jan. 2017
This creature was a connecting point between saurians and birds, but where to draw the line?
—Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 8 May 2017
The fossils were originally excavated in the 1934 and briefly described nine years later, but experts didn't realize the significance of the saurian until the new study.
—Brian Switek, Scientific American Blog Network, 5 May 2017
Cite this Entry
“Saurian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/saurian. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
saurian
noun
sau·ri·an
ˈsȯr-ē-ən 
: any of a group of reptiles including the lizards and in older classifications the crocodiles and various extinct forms (as the dinosaurs) that look like lizards
saurian
adjective
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