English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Clipping of dinosaur.

Noun edit

'saur (plural 'saurs)

  1. (informal or science fiction, fantasy) A dinosaur.
    • 2003, Ken MacLeod, Engine City, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 79:
      —genetically uplifted the ancestors of the saurs, and culturally—at least—uplifted the kraken. We are used to thinking of these species as wise and ancient, which indeed they are, but the octopods are their 'Elder Race.'
    • 2006, S[tephen] M[ichael] Stirling, The Sky People, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, →ISBN, page 75:
      The city-folk had learned not to run screaming at the sight of a 'saur with a human being on it, but they were still in sufficient awe that trouble was unlikely.
    • [2014 September 30, JV Chamary, “Paleosaurs: A Solution To The Dinosaur Dilemma?”, in Forbes[1], New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-26:
      Are there other good candidates for a collective term? Mesosaur might work. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs and other saurs all lived during the Mesozoic Era – the age of reptiles – 252 to 66 million years ago.]
    • 2015, Brian Falkner, Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo, New York, N.Y.: Farrar Straus Giroux, →ISBN, page 67:
      The bird comes cartwheeling out of the forest in a flurry of feathers and leathery wings. Only as it lands, crashing into the reeds at the edge of the river, does Willem realize that it is not a bird, but a winged saur.
    • 2015 June 16, Allison Bagg, “These Pranksters Dressed As Dinosaurs Scared The Sh*t Out Of Chris Pratt”, in BuzzFeed[2], archived from the original on 2023-06-28:
      Who better to prank with dinosaurs than the king of 'saurs himself?
    • 2020 January 29, Hannah Sparks, “3-year-old sings heartbreaking song about ’Dinosaurs in Love’”, in New York Post[3], New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-01-30:
      And her most recent tune, "Dinosaurs in Love," is about a pair of smitten 'saurs who find themselves dining at a party just before the apocalyptic event that wiped-out their race.