raptor
/ˈraptə
/noun
1A bird of prey, e.g. an eagle or hawk.They have also been known to steal prey from other raptors and to eat fresh carrion....
- As raptors like hawks and owls prey on the rodents, they risk being hit by a car.
- They may steal prey from other raptors, and have been known to eat carrion as long as it has not been dead too long.
2 informal A dromaeosaurid dinosaur, especially a velociraptor or utahraptor.The first room in the Creation Museum will show paleontologists digging up a dinosaur raptor....
- No creature was spared, from the largest sauropod to the smallest raptor.
- Some of the dinos seen are the brontosaurus, vicious raptors, and tyrannosaurus rex.
From velociraptor, a shortened form used originally by palaeontologists, popularized by the film Jurassic Park (1993)
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin, literally 'plunderer', from rapt- 'seized', from the verb rapere.