Megalosaurus
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- noun
- /ˌmɛɡəˈloʊsɔrəs/
- Specialized
- As much mud in the streets as if the waters had just newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill.
Examples
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The Megalosaurus roamed the land during the Middle Jurassic period, hunting for food.
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The first dinosaur to be named is Megalosaurus, which means "great lizard" in Latin.
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From this terse economy, it suddenly springs into science fiction cut with absurd comedy (a Megalosaurus waddling up Holborn Hill), horror ("the death of the sun"), and disease ("a general infection of ill-temper").
Blog text (23) -
The Megalosaurus was one of the earliest carnivorous dinosaurs discovered, known for its large size.
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Fossils of the Megalosaurus provide insight into the diet and habitat of these ancient creatures.
Synonyms
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A large meat-eating dinosaur that walked on two legs long ago
Surface Forms
Morphology
Megalosaurus = mega + saurus
The name is built from the combining form mega- and the classical element saurus, so the general sense of a large reptilian creature is partly inferable, though the full scientific meaning is specialized.
Etymology
Megalosaurus comes from Greek parts mega- meaning 'large' and -saurus meaning 'lizard'. So Megalosaurus literally means 'large lizard', which helps you remember it was a big dinosaur.