\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.