Dictionary

gharial en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɡɛɹ.i.əl/ (General-American)
• /ˈɡɛə.ɹi.əl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Hindi घड़ियाल (ghaṛiyāl). Doublet of gavial.

Meanings

1. A crocodilian of species Gavialis gangeticus, of the family Gavialidae.
   • The gharial breathes air into its lungs, like caimans, alligators, and crocodiles. It can hold its breath and stay underwater for a long time—more than half an hour. Gharials can also hunt underwater. They even eat their food there. 2010, Steve Parker, Crocodiles, page 18:
   • One of the goals of our river expedition was to locate gharial. Gharial help crocodilians lay claim to being the ugliest reptiles, and perhaps the most ancient. 2013, Eric Dinerstein, Discovering Big Cat Country: On the trail of tigers and snow leopards, unnumbered page:
   • 1996, M. V. Subba Rao, Nesting Behaviour of the Indian Crocodiles, Gavialis gangeticus, Crocodylus plaustris and Crocodylus porosus (Reptilia: Crocodylidae), Geethabali R. Ramamurthi, Readings in Behaviour, page 213, Gharials, Gavialis gangeticus are the inhabitants of deep, fast flowing rivers.
   • Placed in a family by itself, the Gavialidae, the gharial has long been separated from the rest of the crocodilian stock, with the possible exception of Tomistoma (Densmore 1983). 1992, John B. Thorbjarnarson, Harry Messel, F. Wayne King, James Perran Ross, editors, Crocodiles: An Action Plan for Their Conservation, page 112:
   • We crossed the Rapti at Bijlipur, three miles from Balrampur, over a pontoon bridge, from where we would often see marsh crocodile and gharial lying on the sandbanks with their mouths open, absorbing the solar heat. 1993, Arjan Singh, The Legend of the Maneater, page 8:

Forms

Deriveds

Malayan gharial · false gharial

Relateds

gavialid · caiman · Gavialis

Synonyms

gavialid (any species of Gavialidae) · fish-eating crocodile (Gavialis gangeticus) · gavial (Gavialis gangeticus) · Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)

Translations (40)

nv táłkááʼ tsʼin bíchį́į́hnézí (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · as ঘঁৰিয়াল (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · sd گھڙيال (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · bn ঘোড়েল (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ml ചീങ്കണ്ണി (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ar جَرَال (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · mr सुसर (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · fi gangesingaviaali (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · nl gaviaal (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · bo རེ་འབྱམས་མཆུ་རིང་། (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ca gavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · cmn 印度鱷 /印度鳄 (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · de Gavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · cmn 印度食魚鱷 /印度食鱼鳄 (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · bal مل مچ (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · de Gharial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · bn ঘড়িয়াল (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · km ក្រពើផ្ទោង (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ar جَافِيال (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ml മീൻമുതല (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · cmn 食魚鱷 /食鱼鳄 (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · pa ਘੜੀਆਲ (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · fi gaviaali (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ja ガビアル (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ru гавиа́л (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ja インドガビアル (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · fr gavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · gu ઘડિયાલ (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · pt gavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · pl gawial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · el γαβιάλης (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · hi घड़ियाल (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · fr gavial du Gange (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · cmn 恆河鱷 /恒河鳄 (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · de Gangesgavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ta கரியால் (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · sv gavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ne घडियाल (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · es gavial (crocodilian of genus Gavialis) · ur گھڑیال (crocodilian of genus Gavialis)