alligator
pronunciation
How to pronounce alligator in British English:
UK [ˈælɪɡeɪtə(r)]
How to pronounce alligator in American English:
US [ˈælɪɡeɪtər]
-
- Noun:
- leather made from alligator's hide
- either of two amphibious reptiles related to crocodiles but with with shorter broader snouts
-
- Verb:
- of paint, varnish, or the like: to crack and acquire the appearance of alligator hide, as from weathering or improper application
Word Origin
- alligator
- alligator: [16] The Spanish, on encountering the alligator in America, called it el lagarto ‘the lizard’. At first English adopted simply the noun (‘In this river we killed a monstrous Lagarto or Crocodile’, Job Hortop, The trauailes of an Englishman 1568), but before the end of the 16th century the Spanish definite article el had been misanalysed as part of the noun – hence, alligator. Spanish lagarto derived from Latin lacerta ‘lizard’, which, via Old French lesard, gave English lizard.=> lizard
- alligator (n.)
- 1560s, lagarto (modern form attested from 1620s, with excrescent -r as in tater, feller, etc.), a corruption of Spanish el lagarto (de Indias) "the lizard (of the Indies)," from Latin lacertus (see lizard). Alligarter was an early variant. The slang meaning "non-playing devotee of swing music" is attested from 1936; the phrase see you later, alligator is from a 1956 song title.
Example
- 1. The alligator offered no extra luck , however .
- 2. Tod 's hugely expensive ipad case is also crafted out of genuine alligator skin .
- 3. No , not from an alligator , but the scars of a painful past .
- 4. A rare albino alligator photographed from underwater creates a mirror-like reflection on the surface .
- 5. When placed in water , the drunken volunteers fared even worse , and the alligator markedly better , sawyer said .