Crossword clues for caiman
caiman
- Alligator's kin
- Tropical crocodile whose name sounds like a Caribbean island group
- Toothy reptile of South America
- South American crocodilian
- Semi-aquatic alligator relative
- Reptile that resembles a crocodile
- Relatively small tropical crocodilian
- Piranha predator
- Crocodile cousin
- Certain crocodilian
- Alligatorlike creature
- Alligator lookalike
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cayman \Cay"man\ (k[=a]"man), n. [From the language of Guiana: cf. Sp. caiman.] (Zo["o]l.) The south America alligator. See Alligator. [Sometimes written caiman.] [1913 Webster] ||
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also cayman, 1570s, from Portuguese or Spanish caiman, from Carib acayouman "crocodile," or perhaps from a Congo African word applied to the reptiles in the new world by African slaves. "The name appears to be one of those like anaconda and bom, boma, which the Portuguese or Spaniards very early caught up in one part of the world, and naturalized in another." [OED]
Wiktionary
n. 1 Any of the relatively small crocodilians of genus ''Caiman'', within family Alligatoridae. 2 A semi-aquatic lizard, of the genus ''Dracaena'', found in South America. ''To differentiate from caimans, they are referred to as caiman lizards.''
WordNet
n. an alligator-like reptile of Central America and South America having a more heavily armored belly [syn: cayman]
Wikipedia
Caiman is a genus of caimans within the alligatorid subfamily Caimaninae. They inhabit Central and South America. They are relatively small sized crocodilians, with all species reaching lengths of only a few meters and weighing on average.
A caiman is an alligatorid crocodilian belonging to the subfamily Caimaninae, one of two primary lineages within Alligatoridae, the other being alligators.
In biology, the caiman is a reptile in the subfamily Caimaninae. The term caiman (genus) is also used in a more restrictive sense for the genus within the subfamily.
Caiman may also refer to:
-
, a US Navy submarine that served in World War II and beyond
- BAE Caiman, an armored vehicle used by the US military
- The Caiman (in Italian Il caimano), a 2006 Italian comedy-drama film
- Le Caïman, an award-winning play by French dramatist and novelist Antoine Rault
- The Caïmans, a trio of bullies in the Belgian comics series La Ribambelle
- Efraín Sánchez (born 1926), Colombian former football goalkeeper nicknamed "El Caimán"
- Caimans, the athletics teams of Hostos Community College, New York, New York
Usage examples of "caiman".
After a minute of fruitless searching, she told herself the animal had probably been a caiman, or one of a hundred large species of fish that inhabited the rivers of the Amazon, but least likely an anaconda.
The flotilla of boats and men drifted and motored closer to the shore, ineffectually trying to cage the caiman thrashing in the water.
Those minutes in the Marauia, swimming in the current and hearing the giant caiman thrashing and lunging about in the water behind him, had been some of the longest in his life.
Eddie and his ragged little entourage had arrived at Reino Novo just as the sun was setting, the promised emeralds and diamonds in hand, retrieved from William Sanchez Travers the evening before in Santa Maria, apparently mere hours before the man had been eaten by a giant caiman near the mouth of the Rio Marauia.
I am a caiman, an anaconda, a jaguar shaman, but never a monkey shaman.
Of course, the pile of endangered black caiman carcasses and jaguar pelts found in the village had not helped matters.
I read about a black caiman found dead with two outboard motors in its belly, swallowed whole.
The caiman was probably content with its meal, but where there was one, there might be other predators, especially once the blood flowed down the current.
DeMartini had been in the lead boat with a few of the civilians, but he had been close enough to see the monstrous caiman rise out of the river and rip Graves from the other boat.
Afterward, they had covered their tracks, setting up a false trail beside the river with caiman dung and prints.
Bullets peppered the underside of the giant, prehistoric caiman, but its yellowed belly scales were as hard as Kevlar.
The caiman stared at Nate between the roots, mouth gaping open, teeth glinting with menace.
I imagine the compound must act like caiman dung, a scent repellent to the giant cats.
Serge handed Coleman the caiman in a small rectangular cardboard box with little holes punched in it and told him to put it away.
In 1990 a leaflet from Dangerous Visions, a bookstore in Van Nuys, alerted me that Terry Pratchett and Neal Caiman would be in to autograph Good Omens.