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" dinosaurs "

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    • \ ˈdī-nə-ˌsȯr \

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    [Noun]  | "di*no*saur" | \ ˈdī-nə-ˌsȯr \


    1: any of a group (Dinosauria) of extinct, often very large, carnivorous or herbivorous archosaurian reptiles that have the hind limbs extending directly beneath the body and include chiefly terrestrial, bipedal or quadrupedal ornithischians (such as ankylosaurs and stegosaurs) and saurischians (such as sauropods and theropods) which flourished during the Mesozoic era from the late Triassic period to the end of the Cretaceous period; also : any of a broader group that also includes all living and extinct birds

    2: any of various large extinct reptiles (such as an ichthyosaur or mosasaur) other than the true dinosaurs

    3: one that is impractically large, out-of-date, or obsolete

    Origin: 1842 ;

     Borrowed from presumed New Latin *dinosaurus, the base of Dinosauria, former reptile taxon, from Greek deinós inspiring dread or awe + -o- {see: |-o-|-o-} + New Latin Sauria, former reptile suborder, from Greek saúros "lizard" + New Latin -ia {see: |-ia:2|-ia:2} {mat|deinonychus|}, {mat|-saurus|};

      * Note : The taxonomic name Dinosauria as well as the vernacular form dinosaur were both introduced by the British biologist and paleontologist Richard Owen (1804-92) in Report on British Fossil Reptiles. Part II, Report of the Eleventh Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (Held at Plymouth in July 1841) (London: J. Murray, 1842), p. 103: The combination of such characters, some, as the sacral ones [i.e., the sacral vertebrae fused into a single structure], altogether peculiar among Reptiles, others borrowed, as it were, from groups now distinct from each other, and all manifested by creatures far surpassing in size the largest of existing reptiles, will, it is presumed, be deemed sufficient ground for establishing a distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles, for which I would propose the name of Dinosauria. [Footnote to the above] Gr. deinòs, fearfully great; saúros, a lizard. Although Owen's Report on British Fossil Reptiles purports to be the record of an oral presentation given at Plymouth in July, 1841, the detailed contemporary accounts of Owen's lecture do not mention dinosaur or Dinosauria, and it is now clear that he only introduced the word with the extensively revised version of the report released in April, 1842. The background to Owen's report is analyzed by Hugh S. Torrens in Politics and Paleontology: Richard Owen and the Invention of Dinosaurs, M. K. Brett-Surman, et al., editors, The Complete Dinosaur, 2nd edition (Indiana University Press, 2012), pp. 25-43. Offprints of Owen's article have the publication date 1841, but, as Torrens demonstrates (p. 34), this was an error (perhaps deliberately uncorrected by Owen). Owen's rendering of Greek deinós (a word with a wide semantic range) as fearfully great is at odds with the conventional notion that dinosaur means terrible lizard in Greek. Although terrible (i.e., terrifying) is a possible translation of deinós, it does not appear to be the meaning Owen intended.;

    [Noun]  | "avian dinosaur" 


    1: a bird when considered as the survivor of a lineage of theropod dinosaurs

    Origin: 1999 ;

    [Noun]  | "duck-billed dinosaur" 


    1: any of various herbivorous dinosaurs (family Hadrosauridae) of the Late Cretaceous having the jaw elongated into a snout that resembles a beak : hadrosaur

    Origin: 1913 ;

    [Noun]  | "non-avian dinosaur" 


    1: any dinosaur that is not a bird

    Origin: 1988 ;

    [Noun]  | "dinosaurs" 


    1: one that has passed the peak of effectiveness or popularity;


      * e.g., " ... as an old-time big-city boss, he's become something of a dinosaur in today's political world "




    2: something or someone that is unusually large and powerful;


      * e.g., " ... not that his small lawn needed such a dinosaur, but he bought a riding mower anyway "



    •  Antonyms : 

    • (N/A)




    [Noun]  | "dinosaur" 


    1: one that has passed the peak of effectiveness or popularity;


      * e.g., " ... as an old-time big-city boss, he's become something of a dinosaur in today's political world "




    2: something or someone that is unusually large and powerful;


      * e.g., " ... not that his small lawn needed such a dinosaur, but he bought a riding mower anyway "



    •  Antonyms : 

    • (N/A)




     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: Ancient creatures that died out because you touch yourself at night.

      * e.g.,  ... Peter: "Why did all the dinosaurs die out?" 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: Ancient people at your work place that are usually bitter and old that need to retire.

      * e.g.,  ... I would love to move up in seniority but the dinosaurs will never leave. 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: a now extinct creature that had once walked the planet. scientists have theorys of how they became extinct.

      * e.g.,  ... dinosaurs: 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    2: emo//scene kids usually like this animal && call it a "dino".

      * e.g.,  ... tyranosaurus rex 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    3: they will use it as a name on their myspace or screen name.

      * e.g.,  ... stego saurus 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    4: they will have cartoon pictures of dinosaurs on their myspace also.

      * e.g.,  ... brontosaurus 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    5: personally, its my favorite animal, along with the giraffe. :

      * e.g.,  ... triceratops 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: I sincerely hope Phrigajiblenophip's definition was a joke.

      * e.g.,  ... Alarmingly, a recent poll showed that 51% of Americans believe that dinosaurs and early man lived at the same time. 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    2: See my definition of 'Dinosaur' and ByThorsBeard's definition of 'Scale of Dinosaurs'.

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: Something that I, Cuddlywuddly, like.

      * e.g.,  ... I like dinosaurs. 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: Prehistoric animals that became extinct for god knows what reason...WARNING: any boy who played with dinosaurs as a kid is certain to be a wanker...serious check it out!

      * e.g.,  ... be weary of those kids who liked dinosaurs. 

     [ "dinosaurs" ]

    1: Refering to bumps/rises of hair that can occur when long hair is put up into a poneytail.

      * e.g.,  ... "Do I have any dinosaurs?" usually asked after the person with long hair has pulled it up. 

     [ "Dinosaurism" ]

    1: The religion of all religions. It was created by two special* girls who are not fooled by the age old "God" theory and prefer to believe in something that has actually existed. When in times of moral indecision stop and ask yourself, "What would dinosaurs do?" (W.W.D.D) T-Rex is of course large and in charge. When praying to him you must always make your hands into T-rex claws. Accept dinosaurs as your lord and savior and everything in life will fall into place. Or not.

      * e.g.,  ... I knew these two girls that practice Dinosaurism and they're the mother flippin! 

     [ "Dinosaurism" ]

    2: *unemployed

     [ "dinosaur" ]

    1: The greatest, most diverse and successful class of land vertibrates ever, believed to have originated sometime in the Triassic about 240 million years ago, and disappearing around 65 million years ago. Gods among animals, and awesome testaments to the power of creation (or evolution, if your must insist that these words be mutually exclusive) they were physiologically superior to mammals and gave rise to birds.

      * e.g.,  ... Lots of kids my age got hooked on dinosaurs for a while--it was a childhood disease, like mumps or chicken pox, and if left alone, most kids recovered and then had a lifetime immunity to dinosaurmania. But I was that rare exception, a terminal, chronic case.-- Robert T. Bakker, "The Dinosaur Heresies" 

     [ "dinosaur" ]

    2: Often our society shows a disinterest with the phenomena of the dinosauria, approaching paleontology with a "they're dead, who cares" attitude. They are also ridiculed for having "died out" when they in fact persisted a period of something like 160 million years--more than 40 times longer than the time elapsed since the earliest human anscestors appeared. Even the word "dinosaur" has a deprecative connotation, implying something that is outdated or obsolete.

     [ "dinosaur" ]

    3: Stop for a moment to consider that these animals did, in fact exist, and are not the chimeras of children. This writer would maintain, however, that anyone holding the view that an interest in dinosaurs is nerdy and childish deserves to have his or head bitten off by a Charcharodontosaurus.

     [ "Dinosauring" ]

    1: When someone takes over a role you have (typically at work), thus making you outdated.

      * e.g.,  ... Rafey just killed the presentation to the board. He's dinosauring the fuck out of me. 

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