Definition of "cayman"

We were about to follow this advice, when another man, more rash than his comrades, said, 'I'm not afraid of caymans,' and spurred his horse into the stream.

1862, The Quiver, volumes 1-6, page 451

With a dull, heavy splash an occasional cayman plunged in from the bank.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton

Surely, when this animal comes, it is to eat us. Thus, we have to sing this hoa. This is how I learned this hoa for caymans. One sings this so he won't be eaten by the caymans.

1996, Dale Alan Olsen, editor, Music of the Warao of Venezuela: Song People of the Rain Forest‎, page 326

Laguna Tortuguero has some 2,000 caimanes (caymans), a type of alligator indigenous to Central and S America.

2002, Harry S. Pariser, Explore Puerto Rico‎, page 157