Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A bird of prey.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A ravisher; a plunderer.
  • noun A genus of coleopterous insects.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A ravisher; a plunderer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A bird of prey.
  • noun obsolete One who ravishes or plunders.
  • noun One of a family of carnivorous dinosaurs having tearing claws on the hind legs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of numerous carnivorous birds that hunt and kill other animals

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, one who seizes, from rapere, to seize; see rapt.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin raptor ("thief").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

As used in the novel (and subsequent motion picture) Jurassic Park; shortened from velociraptor.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Regarding dinosaurs, "'raptor' is an informal term that some people use to refer to the Dromaeosaurid dinosaurs, like Velociraptor, Utahraptor, Deinonychus, and others." (enchantedlearning.com)

    August 31, 2008

  • Don't even know her.

    August 31, 2008

  • “The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It is primarily an air superiority fighter, but has multiple capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.�? More on Wikipedia.

    December 30, 2008