crocodile

Syllables: croc·o·dile/ˈkɹɒkədaɪl/US/ˈkɹɑkədaɪl/

crocodile noun: any of the predatory amphibious reptiles of the family Crocodylidae; (loosely) a crocodilian, any species of the order Crocodilia, which also includes the alligators, caimans and gavials.

Image: Leigh Bedford, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

crocodile (plural crocodiles)

Any of the predatory amphibious reptiles of the family Crocodylidae; (loosely) a crocodilian, any species of the order Crocodilia, which also includes the alligators, caimans and gavials.
- The Roman poet Horace states that the excrement of the crocodile has aphrodisiac virtues.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 71
- Industrial and rural expansion is shrinking and destroying the Nile crocodile's natural habitat. The Nile crocodiles, in particular, have been a source of highly durable leather for a variety of products which can be crafted and manufactured.2005, Mwelwa Musambachime, Basic Facts on Zambia, page 97
Synonyms:

croc, cockatrice
A long line or procession of people (especially children) walking together.
- Sometimes the kids from the slap-up boys' schools in Eastbourne used to be led round in crocodiles to hand out fags and peppermint creams to the 'wounded Tommies', as they called us.1939, George Orwell, Coming Up for Air, part 2, chapter 8
A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile.
- We have seen syllogisms, crocodiles, enthymemas, sorites, &c. explained and tried upon a boy of nine or ten years old in playful conversation[…]1798, Maria Edgeworth, Practical Education
(Philippines, figuratively) greedy or corrupt person (especially a politician or any public official)

Verb

crocodile (third-person singular simple present crocodiles, present participle crocodiling, simple past and past participle crocodiled)

(intransitive, slang) To speak another language than Esperanto at an Esperanto-language gathering.

crocodile meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

crocodile in Hindi

reptile: मगर magar, घड़ियाल ghaṛiyāl, मगरमच्छ magarmacch

crocodile in Tamil

reptile: முதலை mutalai
line or procession: ஊர்வலம் ūrvalam, அணி aṇi

crocodile in Marathi

reptile: मगर magar

crocodile in Urdu

reptile: مَگَرْمَچھ magarmach

More languagesFewer languages

crocodile in Bengali: কুমীর kumir
crocodile in Telugu: మొసలి mosali
crocodile in Malayalam: മുതല mutala
crocodile in Kannada: ಮೊಸಳೆ mosaḷe
crocodile in Punjabi: ਮਗਰ magar, ਮਗਰਮੱਛ magramaccha, ਘੜਿਆਲ ghaṛiāla
crocodile in Gujarati: મગર magar
crocodile in Odia: ମଗର magara
crocodile in Sanskrit: नक्र nakra, कुम्बीर kumbīra, ग्रह gráha, घण्टिक ghaṇṭika
crocodile in Sinhala: කිඹුල් kiᵐbul
crocodile in Assamese: ঘঁৰিয়াল ghõrial, মগৰ mogor
crocodile in Nepali: कुबिर् kubir
crocodile in Pashto: تمساح tamsãh, غروی ǧárway, سنګساره sagsārá
crocodile in Tagalog: buwaya
crocodile in Arabic: تِمْسَاح timsāḥ
crocodile in Malay: buaya
crocodile in Indonesian: buaya
crocodile in Persian: تمساح temsâh, کروکودیل krokodil, نهنگ nahang, کرتن کله kartankalle
crocodile in Thai: จระเข้ jɔɔ-rá-kêe
crocodile in Vietnamese: sấu, cá sấu
crocodile in Myanmar: မိကျောင်း mi.kyaung:
Kashmiri: مَگَر مَژھ magar maċh

Examples of crocodile in a sentence

Crocodiles are living fossils that haven’t changed their appearance much in millions of years.
A crocodile deposits her eggs in the sand.
In a significant way, crocodiles and alligators are similar.

All 40 example sentences with crocodile

Synonyms of crocodile

Forms of crocodile

Noun
plural	crocodiles
Verb
third-person singular present	crocodiles
present participle	crocodiling
past participle	crocodiled
past	crocodiled

Plural of crocodile: crocodiles

Origin of crocodile

Inherited from Middle English cocodrill, cokadrill, cokedril, from Old French cocodril (modern French crocodile), from Medieval Latin cocodrillus, from Latin crocodilus, from Ancient Greek κροκόδειλος (krokódeilos). The word was later refashioned after the Latin and Greek forms. Doublet of krokodil.

Derived from the noun as a calque of Esperanto krokodili.

Words formed from crocodile

Phrases with crocodile

Questions about crocodile

What does crocodile mean?: Crocodile means any of the predatory amphibious reptiles of the family Crocodylidae; (loosely) a crocodilian, any species of the order Crocodilia, which also includes the alligators, caimans and gavials.
What is crocodile in Hindi?: Crocodile in Hindi is मगर (magar), घड़ियाल (ghaṛiyāl), मगरमच्छ (magarmacch). See Crocodile meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is crocodile?: Crocodile can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce crocodile?: Crocodile is pronounced /ˈkɹɑkədaɪl/ (US).
What is the plural of crocodile?: The plural of crocodile is crocodiles.

Words near crocodile in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: crocodile (page history and authors); कुम्बीर (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); कुबिर् (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-crocodile.wav.

Cite this entry: “crocodile.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/crocodile. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.