Raptor

//ˈɹæptɚ// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A bird of prey.
  2. 2
    One of the dromaeosaurs, a family of carnivorous dinosaurs having tearing claws on the hind legs. informal
  3. 3
    any of numerous carnivorous birds that hunt and kill other animals wordnet
  4. 4
    One who ravishes or plunders. obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms
bird of preybird of preybloodsuckerharpyleechplunderer

Example

More examples

"Nowhere in the Bible does it state that Jesus wasn't a raptor."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English raptour, from Latin raptor (“kidnapper, thief”).

Etymology 2

Popularized (and possibly coined) in 1990 by Michael Crichton in Jurassic Park; clipping of velociraptor, ultimately of the same etymology as above.

Related phrases

bird of preyhind leg

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.