any herbivorous quadrupedal late Jurassic dinosaur of the genus Diplodocus, characterized by a very long neck and tail and a total body length of 27 metres: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from diplo- + Greek dokos beam
diplodocus in American English
(dɪpˈlɑdəkəs; dɪpˈloʊdəkəs)
US
noun
any of a genus (Diplodocus) of huge, plant-eating sauropod dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods
Word origin
ModL < diplo- + Gr dokos, main supporting beam: coined (1878) by O.C. Marsh (1831-99), U.S. paleontologist