# alligator

Pronunciation: US say "AL-i-gay-tur" /ˈæl.ɪ.ɡeɪ.tɚ/; UK/AUS say "AL-i-gay-tuh" /ˈæl.ɪ.ɡeɪ.tə/

## Noun

1. Either of two large amphibious reptiles with sharp teeth and very strong jaws, in the genus Alligator: one native to the Americas, the other to China.
   - Simple: A large reptile with sharp teeth and very strong jaws that lives in rivers and swamps.
   - _A young alligator basked on the bank near the boat launch._
   - _Chinese alligators are far smaller than their American relatives._
2. Any reptile belonging to the family Alligatoridae, a group that also includes the caimans.
   - Simple: Any reptile in the same family as true alligators, a group that also includes the caimans.
   - _In the broad zoological sense, every caiman is an alligator._
   - _The family includes not only the familiar alligators but also the caimans of Latin America._
5. A shoe made from the hide of an alligator, prized for its distinctive scaly leather.
   - Simple: A shoe made from the tough, scaly skin of an alligator.
   - _The dancer's gleaming alligators caught the stage lights._
   - _He kept one battered alligator as a memento of his first big paycheck._
6. Any of various strong-jawed machines in which one jaw opens the way an alligator's movable jaw does.
   - Simple: A kind of machine with strong jaws, where one jaw opens like an alligator's mouth.
   - _The scrapyard's hydraulic alligator bit through steel beams as if they were breadsticks._
   - _Before the shift, the operator checked that the alligator's moving jaw closed cleanly against the fixed one._

## Interjection

3. Spoken between numbers when counting out loud, making each number fall roughly one second after the previous one.
   - Simple: A word spoken between numbers when counting out loud, so each count takes about one second.
   - _She whispered "five alligator, six alligator" while waiting for the thunder._
   - _Counting one alligator, two alligator, the children paced out a steady rhythm for the game._

## Verb

4. To crack into a pattern of small interconnected fissures resembling the hide of an alligator.
   - Simple: To break into a network of small cracks that looks like the rough skin of an alligator.
   - _The varnish on the antique table alligatored over the decades._
   - _Asphalt road surfaces alligator when the base beneath them fails._

## Noun

7. A crocodile of any species, in an older and looser use of the word. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A crocodile of any kind.
   - _Early explorers reported alligators infesting the rivers of India._
   - _An enormous alligator slid from the Egyptian mudbank into the river._
8. A fan or performer of swing music, especially one who is white. *(dated, US)*
   - Simple: A big fan or performer of swing music, especially a white one.
   - _By midnight the club was full of alligators jitterbugging to the big band._
   - _He was a real alligator, never missing a single swing show in the city._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any of various vehicles built with a long, low front section ahead of the driver's cab or a similar compartment, which usually has windows.
- (noun) The dwarf crocodile, Osteolaemus tetraspis, a small crocodilian native to the rainforests of West Africa.
- (noun) A rock-breaking machine with strong jaws, one of which opens and closes like the movable jaw of an alligator.
- (noun) A type of squeezer with strong jaws, used to compress the puddle ball in ironworking.
- (noun) A type of job press for printing, built with strong jaws that open and close like the movable jaw of an alligator.

## Origin

From early Modern English forms like "alligater" and "alagarto," borrowed from Spanish "el lagarto" ("the lizard"), which came from Latin "lacertus" ("lizard"); the modern spelling was possibly influenced by the unrelated Latin "alligator" ("one who binds").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/alligator (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).