- (also informal croc)[countable]
a large reptile with a long tail, hard skin and very big jaws. Crocodiles live in rivers and lakes in hot countries. 鳄鱼 - [uncountable]
crocodile skin made into leather （做成皮革的）鳄鱼皮 crocodile shoes 鳄鱼皮皮鞋
- [countable] (British English)
a long line of people, especially children, walking in pairs 成对纵列行进的人（尤指儿童） a school crocodile 一列学校纵队
Word OriginMiddle English cocodrille, cokadrill, from Old French cocodrille, via medieval Latin from Latin crocodilus, from Greek krokodilos ‘worm of the stones’, from krokē ‘pebble’ + drilos ‘worm’. The spelling was changed in the 16th cent. to conform with the Latin and Greek forms.
Idioms
crocodile tears
if somebody sheds (= cries) crocodile tears, they pretend to be sad about something, but they are not really sad at all 鳄鱼的眼泪；假慈悲 Let’s have no more politicians shedding crocodile tears for the unemployed. 让我们不要再有政客为失业者流鳄鱼的眼泪了。