Rep″tile (r?p″t?l;277), a. [F. reptile, L. reptilis, fr. repere, reptum, to creep; cf. Lith. reploti; perh. akin to L. serpere. Cf. Serpent.] 1. Creeping; moving on the belly, or by means of small and short legs.
2. Hence: Groveling; low; vulgar; as, a reptile race or crew; reptile vices.
There is also a false, reptile prudence, the result not of caution, but of fear. Burke.
And dislodge their reptile souls
From the bodies and forms of men. Coleridge.