reptiles

Noun

reptile (plural reptiles)

1. A (typically scaly and egg-laying) cold-blooded vertebrate tetrapod animal, of the class Reptilia (excluding birds), such as a lizard, turtle, snake, crocodile, alligator, etc.
2. Any member of the class Reptilia, including birds.
3. (dated) Any creeping or crawling animal, one that moves along close to the ground on its belly or on short legs, such as a lizard, snake, salamander, frog, toad, or scorpion.
4. (dated) An animal belonging to either the class Reptilia or the class Amphibia.

   Synonyms:

   herptile, herp

5. (dated, proscribed) An ectothermic, scaly animal, whether sauropsid or synapsid, of the clade Amniota.
   • Prior to the 1990s, the non-mammalian synapsids were considered true reptiles.
6. (dated, figuratively) An abject, grovelling, loathsome or repulsive person.
   • This work may, indeed, be considered as a great creation of our own; and for a little reptile of a critic to presume to find fault with any of its parts, without knowing the manner in which the whole is connected, and before he comes to the final catastrophe, is a most presumptuous absurdity.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

See all 8 meanings of reptile