Definitions

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

  • noun Any large bipedal carnivorous dinosaur, of the family Tyrannosauridae, that lived in North America during the Cretaceous period.

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

  • noun large carnivorous bipedal dinosaur having enormous teeth with knifelike serrations; may have been a scavenger rather than an active predator; later Cretaceous period in North America

Etymologies

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

[From New Latin Tyrannosaurus, genus name; see tyrannosaurus.]

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Examples

  • They can break a tyrannosaur's neck with a swipe of their tail.

    Jurassic Park Crichton, Michael, 1942- 1991

  • Say "tyrannosaur" and most people picture a clunky, heavy-set beast with huge teeth and a brutish character.

    New Scientist - Online News 2009

  • One thing that we see in other tyrannosaur species is evidence that maybe some of these young animals actually palled around in groups of juveniles - sort of rambling gangs of young tyrannosaurs - potentially even avoiding the adults.

    Dinosaur Skull Reveals Youthful Secrets 2011

  • Analysis of the youngest and most complete dinosaur skull of any species of tyrannosaur finds significant differences between the young and old of the same species.

    Dinosaur Skull Reveals Youthful Secrets 2011

  • Analysis of the youngest and most complete dinosaur skull of any species of tyrannosaur finds significant differences between the young and old of the same species.

    Dinosaur Skull Reveals Youthful Secrets 2011

  • One thing that we see in other tyrannosaur species is evidence that maybe some of these young animals actually palled around in groups of juveniles - sort of rambling gangs of young tyrannosaurs - potentially even avoiding the adults.

    Dinosaur Skull Reveals Youthful Secrets 2011

  • Scientists from Cambridge, London and Melbourne have found the first ever evidence that tyrannosaur dinosaurs existed in the southern continents.

    Archive 2010-03-21 Bill Crider 2010

  • Scientists find first ever southern tyrannosaur dinosaur: Tyrannosaurus rex, once believed to have only roamed the Earth north of the Equator, may also have lived in the southern hemisphere, paleontologists said Thursday.

    Archive 2010-03-21 Bill Crider 2010

  • Tyrannosaurus rex may have towered over its Cretaceous competition, but for their first 80 million years, most tyrannosaur species were small-timers -- no bigger than humans, researchers ...

    T. Rex Were Human-Size Dinosaurs For 80 Million Years 2010

  • The conference began with a Wednesday evening welcome reception, held at Chicago's Field Museum, where 28 mostly Illinois breweries had set up beer stations among two stuffed elephants, a couple of totem poles and a tyrannosaur skeleton.

    Beer: A celebration of craft brewing 2010

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