alligator

Pluralalligators

Formsalligators, alligatoring, alligatored

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A large reptile with sharp teeth and very strong jaws that lives in rivers and swamps.

   Like a giant lizard with a wide, powerful mouth full of teeth.

   An alligator slid silently into the swamp at dusk.

   Tourists watched several alligators sunning on the muddy riverbank.

   Note
2. 2
   nouncountable

   Any reptile in the same family as true alligators, a group that also includes the caimans.

   Like how dogs, wolves, and foxes all belong to one bigger animal family.

   Caimans are a kind of alligator found across Central and South America.

   In this broad grouping, even the caimans count as alligators.

   Note
3. 3
   interjection

   A word spoken between numbers when counting out loud, so each count takes about one second.

   Like saying "Mississippi" between numbers to make each count last about a second.

   We held our breath and counted: one alligator, two alligator, three alligator.

   He timed the race by saying "one alligator, two alligator" under his breath.

   SimilarMississippi

   Note
4. 4
   verbintransitive

   To break into a network of small cracks that looks like the rough skin of an alligator.

   Like mud drying in the sun and breaking into many small pieces.

   The old paint had begun to alligator in the summer heat.

   Cheap varnish often alligators within a few years.

   Similarcrack, craze

   Note
5. 5
   nouncountable

   A shoe made from the tough, scaly skin of an alligator.

   Like leather shoes, but made from an alligator's hard, scaly skin.

   He polished his alligators before the wedding.

   Each alligator in his closet cost a small fortune.

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A kind of machine with strong jaws, where one jaw opens like an alligator's mouth.

   At the scrapyard, a worker fed old pipes into the alligator, and its jaws cut them in half.

   Turn off the alligator before you clean its steel jaws.

   Note

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