Definition of Salamander

1. Noun. Any of various typically terrestrial amphibians that resemble lizards and that return to water only to breed.


2. Noun. Reptilian creature supposed to live in fire.

3. Noun. Fire iron consisting of a metal rod with a handle; used to stir a fire.
Exact synonyms: Fire Hook, Poker, Stove Poker
Generic synonyms: Fire Iron
Derivative terms: Poke

Definition of Salamander

1. n. Any one of numerous species of Urodela, belonging to Salamandra, Amblystoma, Plethodon, and various allied genera, especially those that are more or less terrestrial in their habits.

Definition of Salamander

1. Noun. A long slender (usually) terrestrial amphibian, resembling a lizard and newt; taxonomic order Urodela ¹

2. Noun. (mythology) A creature much like a lizard that is resistant to and lives in fire, hence the elemental being of fire. ¹

3. Noun. (cooking) A metal utensil with a flat head which is heated and put over a dish to brown the top. ¹

4. Noun. (cooking) In a professional kitchen a small broiler, used primarily for browning. ¹

5. Verb. To apply a salamander (flat iron utensil above) in a cooking process. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Salamander

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Salamander

1. 1. Any one of numerous species of Urodela, belonging to Salamandra, Amblystoma, Plethodon, and various allied genera, especially those that are more or less terrestrial in their habits. The salamanders have, like lizards, an elongated body, four feet, and a long tail, but are destitute of scales. They are true Amphibia, related to the frogs. Formerly, it was a superstition that the salamander could live in fire without harm, and even extinguish it by the natural coldness of its body. "I have maintained that salamander of yours with fire any time this two and thirty years." (Shak) "Whereas it is commonly said that a salamander extinguisheth fire, we have found by experience that on hot coals, it dieth immediately." (Sir T. Browne) 2. The pouched gopher (Geomys tuza) of the Southern United States. 3. A culinary utensil of metal with a plate or disk which is heated, and held over pastry, etc, to brown it. 4. A large poker. 5. Solidofied material in a furnace hearth. Giant salamander. A species of asbestus or mineral flax. Origin: F. Salamandre, L. Salamandra, Gr.; cf. Per. Samander, samandel. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Salamander

salads
salady
salaeratus
salagane
salaganes
salah
salai
salak
salak palm
salak palms
salaks
salal
salal-berry
salals
salam
salamander
salamandered
salamandering
salamanderlike
salamanders
salamandra
salamandrian
salamandrid
salamandridae
salamandridea
salamandrids
salamandriform
salamandrina
salamandrine
salamandroid

Literary usage of Salamander

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from ...by Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson (1805)
"Ambrose Party has a picture of the salamander, with a receipt for her bite; ... The salamander liveth in the fire, and hath force also to extinguish it. ..."

2. Writing of Today: Models of Journalistic Prose by John William Cunliffe, Gerhard Richard Lomer (1915)
"5 close print, and it loses none of its tedious- The Salamander, by Owen Johnson only to recognize that Mr. Johnson is fol- (Martin Seeker), though it has ..."

3. The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper: Including the Series by Alexander Chalmers, Samuel Johnson (1810)
"then find out grander, Call my lord Cults a Salamander. Tis well;—but, since we live among Detractors with an evil tongue, Who may object against the term, ..."

4. A History of the Earth, and Animated Natureby Oliver Goldsmith, Washington Irving by Oliver Goldsmith, Washington Irving (1854)
"With respect to the salamander, the whole tribe, from the moron to the gekko, ... OF THE Salamander. The ancients have described a lizard that is bred from ..."

5. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"19) cites the salamander, which "when It walks through flre extinguishes It," as a proof that some animal frames are incombustible, ..."

6. Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain: Chiefly by John Brand (1849)
""THERE is a vulgar error," says the author of the Brief Natural History, p. 91, "that a salamander lives in the fire. Yet both Galen and Dioscorides refute ..."

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