Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The Gangetic crocodile, Gavialis gangeticus, having long, slender, subcylindric jaws with a protuberance at the end of the upper one.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A large Asiatic crocodilian (Gavialis Gangeticus); -- called also nako, and Gangetic crocodile.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A crocodile-like reptile with long, narrow jaws (species Gavialis gangeticus); one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large fish-eating Indian crocodilian with a long slender snout

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Hindi ghaṛiyāl, from Sanskrit ghaṇṭikaḥ, probably from ghaṇṭā, bell (from the bulbous end of its snout).]

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Examples

  • Another giant species of fossil crocodilian (gavial-like, in this instance) has been discovered.

    Archive 2008-07-01 2008

  • Two species of crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus and C. palustris), the Gangetic gavial (Gavialis gangeticus), and the water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator) use both land and water to hunt and bask in.

    Sundarbans mangroves 2008

  • There are several reptile species of conservation significance in this ecoregion, including the monitor lizard (Varanus salvator), the false gavial (Tomistoma schlegeli), and the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).

    Indochina mangroves 2007

  • It also has hybrids of the two, as well as the indigenous false gavial (Tomistoma schlegelii) and five exotic species: South American caiman (Caiman crocodilus), New Guinea freshwater crocodile (Crocodylus novaeguineae), Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), broad-spouted caiman

    Chapter 7 1983

  • The project has resulted in the comeback of the gavial.

    Chapter 7 1983

  • In 1974 an FAO report on India's crocodiles noted that the Indian gavial (Gavialis gangeticus) was on the verge of extinction, the saltwater crocodile was extremely rare, and the Indian mugger (Crocodylus palustris was a depleted, although not threatened, species).

    Chapter 7 1983

  • This includes the Florida species, the Orinoco crocodile, the little one from Cuba, the alligator, the Indian gavial and the Indian crocodile (_C. palustris_).

    The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals A Book of Personal Observations William Temple Hornaday 1895

  • The fierce gavial genus is Asian, and abounds in the rivers of India.

    Four Months in a Sneak-Box 1869

  • The gavial is found in Asia -- particularly in the Ganges and other Indian rivers, and is the crocodile of those parts.

    The Boy Hunters Mayne Reid 1850

  • All at once the disengaged arm made a long clutch forward and grasped the upper jaw of the gavial.

    The Castaways Mayne Reid 1850

Comments

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  • Also nakoo.

    August 9, 2021