| 释义 |
gavial Zool.|ˈgeɪvɪəl|
Also in more correct forms, gar(rh)ial, gharrial, ghur(r)ial, ghuryal.
[a. F. gavial (recorded 1789) corruptly ad. Hindustani ghaṛiyāl.]
A saurian inhabiting the Ganges, distinguished by its elongated muzzle from the American alligator and the African crocodile.
1825Hamilton Handbk., Gavial. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 243 The Gangetic crocodile, or Gavial (in correct orthography, Garial) is confined to the fresh water. 1835A. Burnes Trav. Bokhara (ed. 2) I. 115 The large alligator is unknown here; but the long-nosed animal called ‘ghuryal’ abounds. 1850H. Miller Footpr. Creat. xv. (1874) 284 There are fierce contests in their native jungles, on the banks of the Ganges, between the gavial and the tiger. 1854Owen Skel. & Teeth in Circ. Sc., Org. Nat. I. 98/1 The Gangetic crocodile, called ‘garrhial’ by the Hindoos. 1864― Lect. Power of God 40 Gharrials are confined to India; alligators are limited to America. 1878P. Robinson In my Indian Garden 83 The ghurial is of a finer breed. 1905Kynoch Jrnl. July–Sept. 152 On the sandbars Ghurrials in thousands basked in the sun. 1923Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 811/1, I had constant opportunity of seeing and observing the habits of the gharial. 1930Times Educ. Suppl. 29 Nov. p. iv/3 The Zoo has received five young Eastern gharials from Borneo.
Hence ˈgavialid, a crocodile belonging to the same family as the gavial.
1889in Century Dict. |