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caiman

[ key-muhn ]

noun

, plural cai·mans.
  1. any of several tropical American crocodilians of the genus Caiman and allied genera: some are endangered.


caiman

/ ˈkeɪmən /

noun

  1. See cayman
    a variant spelling of cayman


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Word History and Origins

Origin of caiman1

First recorded in 1570–80; from Spanish caimán, from Carib

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Example Sentences

When the team analyzed 138 scat samples, the researchers found 55 percent had fish remains in them and 46 percent contained aquatic reptiles, such as caiman or turtles.

Ours is the Caiman model, a 6x6 behemoth that weighs in at over 15 tons and makes Humvees shrivel up with feelings of inadequacy.

The Caiman offers a range of option packages, from bristling-with-machine-guns, to monster-truck-field-hospital.

On another trip, a defiant caiman (a South American crocodile) devours his mosquito net.

The crocodiles of the American continent form a distinct genus, sometimes designated Alligator, and sometimes Caiman.

The local name "caiman" refers to both Crocodylus and to Caiman, for, in general, the natives do not distinguish between the two.

Peters (1954:10) refuted Gadow's record on the basis that Gadow's collections contained no specimens of Caiman.

It differs from the caiman by having a bony septum between its nostrils, and its ventral scutes are thinly, if at all, ossified.

At noon she came to an anchor in a small bay, northward of the Hocico de Caiman.

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cailleachcaiman lizard