Cactus vs Alligator - What's the difference?
cactus | alligator |
(botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, including euphorbs.
(Australia, NZ, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted.
* {{quote-newsgroup, title=TV Problems
, group=aus.electronics
, author=Dave
, date=July 8
, year=2001
, passage=I wouldn't mind throwing it away if it's cactus except for the VCR part which works fine, so then I'd be up for a new VCR as well.
* {{quote-newsgroup, title=water damage ???
, group=alt.cellular.nokia
, author=AC
, date=August 25
, year=2004
, passage=I would say it's cactus . Water conducts & destroys components & PCBs very easily. Hence the water-resistant phones.
* 2009 , Will Chaffey, Swimming with Crocodiles: An Australian Adventure ,
Either of two species of large amphibious reptile, , in the genus Alligator within order Crocodilia, which have sharp teeth and very strong jaws and are native to the Americas and China.
* 2002 , Maurice Burton, Robert Burton, International Wildlife Encyclopedia ,
* 2007 , Bernie McGovern (editor), Florida Almanac: 2007-2008 , 17th Edition,
* 2012 , Thomas N. Tozer, Pierre's Journey to Florida: Diary of a Young Huguenot in the Sixteenth Century ,
Any of various machines with strong jaws, one of which opens like the movable jaw of an alligator.
# (metalworking) A form of squeezer for the puddle ball.
# (mining) A rock breaker.
# (printing) A kind of job press.
(of paint or other coatings) To crack in a pattern resembling an alligator's skin.
* 2003 , Carson Dunlop & Associates, Essentials of Home Inspection: Roofing ,
* 2004 , James E. Piper, Handbook of Facility Assessment ,
* 2009 , Kären M. Hess, Christine M. H. Orthmann, Criminal Investigation ,
As a noun cactus
is .As a proper noun alligator is
.cactus
English
Noun
Usage notes
In modern English, the term cactus' properly refers to plants belonging to the family Cactaceae. With one exception, all are native to the New World (the Americas). The sole exception is , a jungle epiphyte found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, as well as North and South America. Informally, '''cactus is used to refer to any stem ''succulent'' adapted to a dry climate, notably species from genus ''Euphorbia with forms reminiscent of Cactaceae. To be precise, these succulents are correctly described as "cactoid" or "cactiform" unless they are actual members of the Cactaceae.Hypernyms
* (member of Cactaceae) succulentHyponyms
* (member of Cactaceae) nopal, saguaroDerived terms
* barrel cactus * beehive cactus * bird's nest cactus * cactus cat * cactuslike * cactus wren * compass cactus * crown cactus * dumpling cactus * feather cactus * finger cactus * fishhook cactus * foxtail cactus * hedgehog cactus * horse crippler cactus * ladyfinger cactus * mistletoe cactus * nipple cactus * noncactus * old lady cactus * orchid cactus * organ pipe cactus * pencil cactus * Rainbow cactus * rattail cactus * strawberry cactus * thimble cactus * willow cactus, willow-cactusAdjective
(-)citation
citation
page 108,
- ‘It?s cactus ,’ Rod, the helicopter pilot, said at the sound of the piston ring shattering.
See also
* succulent * (Cactus) * English nouns with irregular plurals ----alligator
English
(wikipedia alligator)Etymology 1
.Noun
(en noun)- All you could see of the alligator were its two eyes above the water, and suddenly it snatched up and caught the poor bird with its strong jaws full of sharp teeth .
page 38,
- Alligators and crocodiles look extremely alike.
- The main distinguishing feature is the teeth. In a crocodile the teeth in its upper and lower jaws are in line, but in an alligator , when its mouth is shut, the upper teeth lie outside the lower ones.
page 243,
- In 1967, the federal government declared alligators' to be an Endangered Species and prohibited gator hunting and the sale of hides. The ' alligator responded and by the mid-1970s, the reptile numbers soared to an estimated half-million.
unnumbered page,
- They ran to the village screaming at the top of their lungs that an alligator' was coming after them. Several of the men in Alimacani retrieved from a storehouse the tool they used to catch ' alligators .
Synonyms
* (reptile within Crocodilia) gator (informal)Coordinate terms
* (reptile within Crocodilia) caiman, cayman; croc, crocodile; gavial, gharialDerived terms
* (Alligator Alley) * alligator apple * alligator bait * alligator clip * alligatored * alligator fish * alligator forceps * alligator gar * alligator grass * alligatoring * alligator leather * alligator lizard * alligator pear * (Alligator Pond) * alligator press * alligator shear * alligator skin * alligator snapper, alligator snapping turtle * alligator spread * alligator terrapin * alligator tortoise * alligator turtle, alligator-turtle * alligator weed * alligator wood * alligator wrench * American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis ) * Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis ) * gator * prairie alligator * see you later alligator * spectacled alligatorVerb
(en verb)page 24,
- Alligatoring is a result of the sun making the top surface of the asphalt brittle.
page 39,
- Sealing an area that is alligatoring' is a temporary solution that may delay having to replace the asphalt for several years. A more permanent repair would be to replace the ' alligatored section.
page 483,
- Common burn indicators include alligatoring , crazing, the depth of char, lines of demarcation, sagged furniture springs and spalling.