different between alligator vs fricanelephant

English

Etymology 1

From early Modern English alligater, alligarta, aligarto, alegarto, alagarto, from Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), from Latin lacertus (“lizard”), modern spelling possibly influenced by the unrelated Latin alligator (“one who binds”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?æl.?.?e?.t?/
• (General American) enPR: ?l??-g?-t?r, IPA^(key): /?æl.?.?e?.t?/
• Hyphenation: al?li?ga?tor

Noun

alligator (plural alligators)

1. Either of two species of large amphibious reptile, Alligator mississippiensis or Alligator sinensis, in the genus Alligator within order Crocodilia, which have sharp teeth and very strong jaws and are native to the Americas and China, respectively.

   All you could see of the alligator were two eyes above the water, then suddenly it snatched up and caught the poor bird with strong jaws full of sharp teeth.

   • 2002, Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, International Wildlife Encyclopedia, page 38,

     Alligators and crocodiles look extremely alike.

     The main distinguishing feature is the teeth. In a crocodile the teeth in its upper and lower jaws are in line, but in an alligator, when its mouth is shut, the upper teeth lie outside the lower ones.

   • 2007, Bernie McGovern (editor), Florida Almanac: 2007-2008, 17th Edition, page 243,

     In 1967, the federal government declared alligators to be an Endangered Species and prohibited gator hunting and the sale of hides. The alligator responded and by the mid-1970s, the reptile numbers soared to an estimated half-million.

   • 2012, Thomas N. Tozer, Pierre's Journey to Florida: Diary of a Young Huguenot in the Sixteenth Century, unnumbered page,

     They ran to the village screaming at the top of their lungs that an alligator was coming after them. Several of the men in Alimacani retrieved from a storehouse the tool they used to catch alligators.

2. (by extension) A member of the family Alligatoridae, including the caiman.
3. (Nigeria) dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis)
4. Any of various machines with strong jaws, one of which opens like the movable jaw of an alligator.
   1. (metalworking) A form of squeezer for the puddle ball.
   2. (mining) A rock breaker.
   3. (printing) A kind of job press.
5. Any of various vehicles that have relatively long, low noses in front of a cab or other, usually windowed, structure.

Synonyms

• (reptile within Crocodilia): gator (informal)

Coordinate terms

• (reptile within Crocodilia): caiman, cayman; croc, crocodile; gavial, gharial

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

alligator (third-person singular simple present alligators, present participle alligatoring, simple past and past participle alligatored)

1. (intransitive, of paint or other coatings) To crack in a pattern resembling an alligator's skin.
   • 2003, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Essentials of Home Inspection: Roofing, page 24,

     Alligatoring is a result of the sun making the top surface of the asphalt brittle.

   • 2004, James E. Piper, Handbook of Facility Assessment, page 39,

     Sealing an area that is alligatoring is a temporary solution that may delay having to replace the asphalt for several years. A more permanent repair would be to replace the alligatored section.

   • 2009, Kären M. Hess, Christine M. H. Orthmann, Criminal Investigation, page 483,

     Common burn indicators include alligatoring, crazing, the depth of char, lines of demarcation, sagged furniture springs and spalling.

Interjection

alligator

1. Used in a common chronometric counting scheme, in which each iteration is sequentially numbered and supposed to be approximately one second in length.

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) , “Alligator”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, ?ISBN
• alligator in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “alligator”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin allig?tor.

Noun

alligator (plural alligators)

1. (obsolete) One who binds or ties.

See also

• ligator

Danish

Noun

alligator c (singular definite alligatoren, plural indefinite alligatorer)

1. alligator

Declension

References

• “alligator” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Alternative forms

• alligador (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from English alligator, from Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.li??a?.t?r/
• Hyphenation: al?li?ga?tor
• Rhymes: -a?t?r

Noun

alligator m (plural alligators, diminutive alligatortje n)

1. alligator, crocodilian of the genus Alligator [from 18th c.]

French

Etymology

From English alligator.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.li.?a.t??/

Noun

alligator m (plural alligators)

1. alligator (animal)

Further reading

• “alligator” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Alternative forms

• adligator

Etymology

alligo (“I bind”) +? -tor

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /al.li??a?.tor/, [äl?????ä?t??r]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /al.li??a.tor/, [?l?i????t??r]

Noun

allig?tor m (genitive allig?t?ris); third declension

1. one who ties or binds

Declension

Third-declension noun.

References

• alligator in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), via English alligator

Noun

alligator m (definite singular alligatoren, indefinite plural alligatorer, definite plural alligatorene)

1. alligator

References

• “alligator” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Spanish el lagarto (“the lizard”), via English alligator

Noun

alligator m (definite singular alligatoren, indefinite plural alligatorar, definite plural alligatorane)

1. alligator

References

• “alligator” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Noun

alligator c

1. alligator (animal)

Declension

West Frisian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch alligator.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ali??a?t?r/

Noun

alligator c (plural alligators, diminutive alligatorke)

1. alligator