dinosaur

[dahy-nuh-sawr] /ˈdaɪ nəˌsɔr/

noun

any chiefly terrestrial, herbivorous or carnivorous reptile of the extinct orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, from the Mesozoic Era, certain species of which are the largest known land animals.

something that is unwieldy in size, anachronistically outmoded, or unable to adapt to change:

The old steel mill was a dinosaur that cost the company millions to operate.

Origin

< Neo-Latin Dinosaurus (1841), originally a genus name. See dino-, -saur

Examples from the web for dinosaur

Open the door, get on the floor, everyone do the dinosaur.
There is no shortage of dinosaur encyclopedias available today.
Scientists know how to turn a chicken into a dinosaur.
Scientists have found a dinosaur with shelled eggs in her belly.
The oldest fossilized dinosaur embryos yet discovered are revealing tantalizing clues about dinosaur evolution, scientists say.
Even when you know what to look for, dinosaur tracks can be easy to miss.
Professors don't want to be perceived as the dinosaur in the room.
The dinosaur skulls, which ranged from dinner plate-size to human-size, came from a range of animals.
Proposed posture for a feathered dinosaur stirs controversy.
Discovery of a new dinosaur is always an exciting event.

British Dictionary definitions for dinosaur

dinosaur

/ˈdaɪnəˌsɔː/

noun

any extinct terrestrial reptile of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, many of which were of gigantic size and abundant in the Mesozoic era See also saurischian, ornithischian Compare pterosaur, plesiosaur

a person or thing that is considered to be out of date

Derived Forms

dinosaurian, adjective

Word Origin

C19: from New Latin dinosaurus, from Greek deinos fearful + sauros lizard

Word Origin and History for dinosaur

1841, coined in Modern Latin by Sir Richard Owen, from comb. form of Greek deinos "terrible" (see dire) + sauros "lizard" (see -saurus). Figurative sense of "person or institution not adapting to change" is from 1952.

dinosaur in Science

dinosaur

(dī'nə-sôr')
Any of various extinct reptiles of the orders Saurischia and Ornithischia that flourished during the Mesozoic Era. Dinosaurs were carnivorous or herbivorous, dwelled mostly on land, and varied from the size of a small dog to the largest land animals that ever lived. One group of dinosaurs evolved into birds. See more at ornithischian, saurischian. See Note at bird.

dinosaur in Technology

1. Any hardware requiring raised flooring and special power. Used especially of old minicomputers and mainframes, in contrast with newer microprocessor-based machines.
In a famous quote from the 1988 Unix EXPO, Bill Joy compared the liquid-cooled mainframe in the massive IBM display with a grazing dinosaur "with a truck outside pumping its bodily fluids through it". IBM was not amused.
Compare big iron; see also dinosaurs mating.
2. [IBM] A very conservative user; a zipperhead.
[Jargon File]