# crocodile

Pronunciation: say "KROK-uh-dyl" US /ˈkɹɑkədaɪl/, UK /ˈkɹɒkədaɪl/

## Noun

1. Any of the large predatory amphibious reptiles of the family Crocodylidae; more loosely, any member of the order Crocodilia, including alligators, caimans, and gavials.
   - Simple: A large reptile with a long body, tough scaly skin, and powerful jaws that lives in or near water.
   - _The crocodile seized the wildebeest as it crossed the swollen river._
   - _Crocodiles can remain submerged for over an hour while waiting for prey._
2. A long line of people, especially schoolchildren, walking along together, often in pairs.
   - Simple: A long line of people, especially children, walking somewhere together.
   - _The whole school filed out in a long crocodile toward the chapel._
   - _Two crocodiles of children wound their way along the seafront path._
3. A fallacious dilemma, said in legend to have first been posed by a crocodile.
   - Simple: A trick question that traps you no matter which answer you give.
   - _The sophist trapped his opponent with a crocodile, ensuring defeat whichever way the man answered._
   - _Ancient logicians delighted in crocodiles and similar paradoxes that punish every possible reply._
4. A person given to greed or corruption, particularly someone in politics or public service. *(Philippines)*
   - Simple: A greedy or dishonest person, especially a politician or official who takes more than their share.
   - _The newspaper branded the minister a crocodile feeding on public funds._
   - _A pack of crocodiles ran the ministry, each grabbing whatever he could._

## Verb

5. To speak a language other than Esperanto at a gathering meant to be held in Esperanto. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To speak some other language instead of Esperanto at an Esperanto event.
   - _Two delegates at the Esperanto congress slipped into French and kept crocodiling through the whole excursion._
   - _Newcomers crocodile constantly until they feel confident enough to hold every conversation in Esperanto._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4** — The word came into Middle English as forms like cocodrill and cokedril, borrowed from Old French cocodril, which came from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, from Latin crocodilus, ultimately from Ancient Greek κροκόδειλος (krokódeilos). It was later refashioned to match the Latin and Greek forms, and it is a doublet of krokodil.
**Meaning 5** — This sense is derived from the noun as a calque of the Esperanto word krokodili.

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