Hypertext Webster Gateway: "crocodile"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Crocodile \Croc"o*dile\ (kr?k"?-d?l; 277), n. [L. crocodilus,
Gr. ?????: cf. F. crocodile. Cf. {Cookatrice}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) A large reptile of the genus {Crocodilus}, of
several species. They grow to the length of sixteen or
eighteen feet, and inhabit the large rivers of Africa,
Asia, and America. The eggs, laid in the sand, are hatched
by the sun's heat. The best known species is that of the
Nile ({C. vulgaris}, or {C. Niloticus}). The Florida
crocodile ({C. Americanus}) is much less common than the
alligator and has longer jaws. The name is also sometimes
applied to the species of other related genera, as the
gavial and the alligator.
2. (Logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have
been first used by a crocodile.
{Crocodile bird} (Zo["o]l.), an African plover ({Pluvianus
[ae]gypticus}) which alights upon the crocodile and
devours its insect parasites, even entering its open mouth
(according to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.;
-- called also {Nile bird}. It is the {trochilos} of
ancient writers.
{Crocodile tears}, false or affected tears; hypocritical
sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that
crocodiles shed tears over their prey.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
crocodile
n : large voracious aquatic reptile having a long snout with
massive jaws and a body covered with bony plates; of
sluggish tropical waters
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