Rep"tile (r?p"t?l;277), a. [F.
reptile, L. reptilis, fr. repere, reptum,
to creep; cf. Lith. reploti; perh. akin to L. serpere.
Cf. Serpent.] 1. Creeping; moving on the
belly, or by means of small and short legs.
2. Hence: Groveling; low; vulgar; as, a
reptile race or crew; reptile vices.
There is also a false, reptile prudence, the
result not of caution, but of fear.
Burke.
And dislodge their reptile souls
From the bodies and forms of men.
Coleridge.
Rep"tile, n. 1.
(Zoöl.) An animal that crawls, or moves on its belly,
as snakes,, or by means of small, short legs, as lizards, and the
like.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarned,
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
Cowper.
2. (Zoöl.) One of the Reptilia, or
one of the Amphibia.
&fist; The amphibians were formerly classed with Reptilia, and are
still popularly called reptiles, though much more closely
allied to the fishes.
3. A groveling or very mean person.
Rep"tile (r?p"t?l;277), a. [F.
reptile, L. reptilis, fr. repere, reptum,
to creep; cf. Lith. reploti; perh. akin to L. serpere.
Cf. Serpent.] 1. Creeping; moving on the
belly, or by means of small and short legs.
2. Hence: Groveling; low; vulgar; as, a
reptile race or crew; reptile vices.
There is also a false, reptile prudence, the
result not of caution, but of fear.
Burke.
And dislodge their reptile souls
From the bodies and forms of men.
Coleridge.
Rep"tile, n. 1.
(Zoöl.) An animal that crawls, or moves on its belly,
as snakes,, or by means of small, short legs, as lizards, and the
like.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarned,
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
Cowper.
2. (Zoöl.) One of the Reptilia, or
one of the Amphibia.
&fist; The amphibians were formerly classed with Reptilia, and are
still popularly called reptiles, though much more closely
allied to the fishes.
3. A groveling or very mean person.
