Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Crocodile \Croc"o*dile\ (kr?k"?-d?l; 277), n. [L. crocodilus,
   Gr. ?????: cf. F. crocodile. Cf. {Cookatrice}.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) A large reptile of the genus {Crocodilus}, of
      several species. They grow to the length of sixteen or
      eighteen feet, and inhabit the large rivers of Africa,
      Asia, and America. The eggs, laid in the sand, are hatched
      by the sun's heat. The best known species is that of the
      Nile ({C. vulgaris}, or {C. Niloticus}). The Florida
      crocodile ({C. Americanus}) is much less common than the
      alligator and has longer jaws. The name is also sometimes
      applied to the species of other related genera, as the
      gavial and the alligator.

   2. (Logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have
      been first used by a crocodile.

   {Crocodile bird} (Zo["o]l.), an African plover ({Pluvianus
      [ae]gypticus}) which alights upon the crocodile and
      devours its insect parasites, even entering its open mouth
      (according to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.;
      -- called also {Nile bird}. It is the {trochilos} of
      ancient writers.

   {Crocodile tears}, false or affected tears; hypocritical
      sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that
      crocodiles shed tears over their prey.