thagomizer

T1H4A1G2O1M3I1Z10E1R1
/ˈθæɡ.ə.maɪ.zəɹ/

noun

An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various stegosaurs.

Scrabble 25
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Meanings

nounthagomizer (plural thagomizers)

plural thagomizers · alternative thagomiser

  1. An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various stegosaurs.

    "Not like that," Snap growled, raising her four fists, swishing her thagomizer around threateningly.

    2008 September 17, L. E. Simmons, The Lady of Gold (SnapDragon Adventures 1), 1st edition, Lulu.com, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 135
    2 more examples

    Like the thagomizer of the stegosaur, the ankylosaurid tail club was probably used to smash into attackers.

    2001, Thomas R. Holtz with Terry Riley, The Little Giant Book of Dinosaurs, page 54

    An Allosaurus backbone had a hole in which a Stegosaurus thagomizer fitted perfectly. Over the years, many of the fossil thagomizers that have been dug up have had broken tips.

    2008 August 1, Gary Jeffrey, Stegosaurus: The Plated Dinosaur, Rosen Publishing Group, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 30

Origin

Coined by cartoonist Gary Larson in 1982. His comic strip (image on the right) shows a caveman giving a lecture illustrating this part of a dinosaur, with the caption "Now this end is called the thagomizer... after the late Thag Simmons". See -ize, -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Schwanzstacheln
  • Schwanzstachelnarrangement of four to ten spikes on Stegosaurus tail
Cite this entry
APA

thagomizer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thagomizer

MLA

“thagomizer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thagomizer. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thagomizer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thagomizer.

Source: thagomizer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.