| / English Dictionary |
PTERODACTYL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Extinct flying reptile
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("pterodactyl" is a kind of...):
flying reptile; pterosaur (an extinct reptile of the Jurassic and Cretaceous having a bird-like beak and membranous wings supported by the very long fourth digit of each forelimb)
Holonyms ("pterodactyl" is a member of...):
genus Pterodactylus; Pterodactylus (a reptile genus of Pterodactylidae)
Context examples:
As Challenger spoke of his pterodactyl I glanced at Professor Summerlee, and for the first time I seemed to see some signs of a dawning credulity and repentance.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We are exceptionally well informed, Summerlee, as to the habits of the enraged pterodactyl.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Here, said he, pointing to the picture of an extraordinary flying monster, is an excellent reproduction of the dimorphodon, or pterodactyl, a flying reptile of the Jurassic period.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A pterodactyl.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
For example, upon the domestic habits of the pterodactyl—'(A voice: 'Bosh,' and uproar)—'I say, that upon the domestic habits of the pterodactyl we can throw a flood of light. I can exhibit to you from my portfolio a picture of that creature taken from life which would convince you—'
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Of course, said he, with his clumsy and ponderous sarcasm, Professor Summerlee will understand that when I speak of a pterodactyl I mean a stork—only it is the kind of stork which has no feathers, a leathery skin, membranous wings, and teeth in its jaws.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I passed close to the pterodactyl swamp, and as I did so, with a dry, crisp, leathery rattle of wings, one of these great creatures—it was twenty feet at least from tip to tip—rose up from somewhere near me and soared into the air.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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