Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various extinct marine reptiles of the group Plesiosauria of the Mesozoic Era, having paddlelike limbs, a short tail, and sometimes a very long neck.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An animal of the order Plesiosauria.

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

  • noun (Paleon.) One of the Plesiosauria.

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

  • noun Any of several extinct marine reptiles, of the order Plesiosauria, from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods

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

  • noun extinct marine reptile with a small head on a long neck a short tail and four paddle-shaped limbs; of the Jurassic and Cretaceous

Etymologies

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

[New Latin Plēsiosaurus, type genus : Greek plēsios, near to; see pel- in Indo-European roots + Greek sauros, lizard.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word plesiosaur.

Examples

  • Aquatic creature, air-breathing, cold-blooded, fish-eating, huge body, long neck, small head — did you know the word plesiosaur means ‘next to a lizard’?

    The Boggart and The Monster Susan Cooper 2001

  • According to a report in National Geographic News, bones of the prehistoric reptile, known as a plesiosaur, were found in Japan in 1968.

    Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 2009

  • According to a report in National Geographic News, bones of the prehistoric reptile, known as a plesiosaur, were found in Japan in 1968.

    Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7 2009

  • David is right: unfortunately it's the image that leaps to mind for most people whenever 'plesiosaur' is mentioned, and this is despite the fact that there aren't really any accounts from Loch Ness that sound in the least bit plesiosaur-like.

    BBC News 24 (again) Darren Naish 2006

  • Because that's the only association they have to "plesiosaur".

    BBC News 24 (again) Darren Naish 2006

  • At some point this morning, I dreamed of finding a very small plesiosaur vertebra, no larger than a quarter.

    "There is no real decay. The flesh is barely bruised" nineweaving 2009

  • Last night, I read "Osteology of the cryptocleidoid plesiosaur Tatenectes laramiensis, with comments on the taxonomic status of the Cimoliasauridae" from the new JVP, and we watched four more episodes of Buffy.

    "I’m made of bones of the branches, the boughs, and the browbeating light..." greygirlbeast 2009

  • Oh, I also made it through two articles in the new Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology yesterday, "Generic reassignment of an ichthyosaur from the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Northwest Territories, Canada" and "A remarkable case of a shark-bitten elasmosaurid plesiosaur."

    Howard Hughes and the 1934 World's Fair yuki_onna 2010

  • Oh, I also made it through two articles in the new Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology yesterday, "Generic reassignment of an ichthyosaur from the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Northwest Territories, Canada" and "A remarkable case of a shark-bitten elasmosaurid plesiosaur."

    Howard Hughes and the 1934 World's Fair yuki_onna 2010

  • It was jet black, and I could tell that the vertebra was from a very young plesiosaur, as the articular facets of the bone were so poorly ossified.

    "There is no real decay. The flesh is barely bruised" nineweaving 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.