alligator

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Either of two large reptiles, Alligator mississipiensis of the southeast United States or A. sinensis of China, having sharp teeth and powerful jaws. They differ from crocodiles in having a broader, shorter snout.
2. n. Leather made from the hide of one of these reptiles.
3. n. A tool or fastener having strong, adjustable, often toothed jaws.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Any American member of the family Alligatoridæ or the family Crocodilidæ; an American crocodile; a cayman; a jacaré.
2. n. [capitalized] [NL.] More specifically, a genus of large lizard-like or saurian reptiles, the type of the family Alligatoridæ, order Crocodilia, formerly family Crocodilidæ, order Sauria. See Alligatoridæ, Crocodilidæ. The type of the genus is A. lucius or A. mississippiensis of the Uinted States. The genus formerly included the cayman and the jacaré, which have been made types of the two genera Caiman and Jacare (which see). A true American crocodile, Crocodilus americanus, long overlooked or confounded with the alligator, has lately been found in Florida and the West Indies. The alligators differ from the true crocodiles in having a shorter and flatter head, cavities or pits in the upper jaw, into which the long teeth of the under jaw fit, and feet much less webbed. Their habits are less aquatic. They frequent swamps and marshes, and may be seen basking on the dry ground during the day in the heat of the sun. They are most active during the night, The largest of them attain the length of 17 or 18 feet. They live on fish, and sometimes catch hogs on the shore, or dogs which are swimming. In winter they burrow in the mud of swamps and marshes, lying torpid till spring. The female lays a great number of eggs, which are deposited in the sand, and left to be hatched by the heat of the sun. The alligators are distributed over tropical America, but are not known to exist in any other part of the world. Among the fossils of the south of England, however, are remains of a true alligator, A. hantoniensis, in the Eocene beds of the Hampshire basin. Leather made from the skin of the alligator is widely used.
3. n. A local name of the little brown fence-lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, common in many parts of the United States.
4. n. A machine for bringing the balls of iron from a puddling-furnace into compact form so that they can be handled; a squeezer.
5. n. A peculiar form of rock-breaker.
6. n. A boat used in handling floating logs. It can be moved overland from one body of water to another by its own power, usually applied through a drum and cable.

Wiktionary

1. n. One who binds or ties.
2. n. A large amphibious reptile with sharp teeth and very strong jaws related to the crocodile and native to the Americas and China. Informal short form: gator

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A large carnivorous reptile of the Crocodile family, peculiar to America. It has a shorter and broader snout than the crocodile, and the large teeth of the lower jaw shut into pits in the upper jaw, which has no marginal notches. Besides the common species of the southern United States, there are allied species in South America.
2. n. Any machine with strong jaws, one of which opens like the movable jaw of an alligator.
3. n. a form of squeezer for the puddle ball.
4. n. a rock breaker.
5. n. a kind of job press, called also alligator press.
6. v. to form shallow cracks in a reticulated pattern on the surface, or in a coating on the surface, of an object.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. crack and acquire the appearance of alligator hide, as from weathering or improper application; of paint and varnishes
2. n. leather made from alligator's hide
3. n. either of two amphibious reptiles related to crocodiles but with shorter broader snouts