C19: from New Latin, from Greek brontē thunder + sauros lizard
apatosaurus in British English
(əˌpætəˈsɔːrəs)
noun
any very large herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur of the genus Apatosaurus, common in North America during Jurassic times, having a long neck and long tail: suborder Sauropoda (sauropods)
Formerly called: brontosaurus
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from Greek apatē deceit + sauros lizard
brontosaurus in American English
(ˌbrɑntəˈsɔrəs)
nounWord forms: plural-sauruses or -sauri (-ˈsɔrai)
brontosaur
Word origin
[‹ NL (1879), equiv. to Gk bronto- (comb. form of bronte᷄ thunder) + saûros-saurus]
Examples of 'brontosaurus' in a sentence
brontosaurus
This musical has just slipped back into the brontosaurus era.
Times, Sunday Times (2018)
Brontosaurus-size backhoes rumble in to clear 9,000 tons of earth.
Smithsonian (2012)
But which is easier to stop, a rabbit or a brontosaurus?
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The oldest of the props is a latex brontosaurus from 1974.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
They would have looked ridiculous on even a brontosaurus.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
I have never seen a dead diplodocus in the same room as a dead brontosaurus.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It is said to be similar in shape to a brontosaurus and the size of an elephant.