LIZARD

lizard

(noun) relatively long-bodied reptile with usually two pairs of legs and a tapering tail

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

lizard (plural lizards)

Any reptile of the order Squamata that is not a snake, usually having four legs, external ear openings, movable eyelids and a long slender body and tail.

(chiefly, in attributive use) Lizard skin, the skin of these reptiles.

(colloquial) An unctuous person.

(colloquial) A coward.

(rock paper scissors) A hand forming a "D" shape with the tips of the thumb and index finger touching (a handshape resembling a lizard), that beats paper and Spock and loses to rock and scissors in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock.

(in compounds) A person who idly spends time in a specified place, especially a promiscuous female.

Etymology

Proper noun

the Lizard

A peninsula in southern Cornwall, England.

Source: Wiktionary


Liz"ard, n. Etym: [OE. lesarde, OF. lesarde, F. lézard, L. lacerta, lacertus. Cf. Alligator, Lacerta.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Definition: Any one of the numerous species of reptiles belonging to the order Lacertilia; sometimes, also applied to reptiles of other orders, as the Hatteria.

Note: Most lizards have an elongated body, with four legs, and a long tail; but there are some without legs, and some with a short, thick tail. Most have scales, but some are naked; most have eyelids, but some do not. The tongue is varied in form and structure. In some it is forked, in others, as the chameleons, club-shaped, and very extensible. See Amphisbæna, Chameleon, Gecko, Gila monster, Horned toad, Iguana, and Dragon, 6.

2. (Naut.)

Definition: A piece of rope with thimble or block spliced into one or both of the ends. R. H. Dana, Ir.

3. A piece of timber with a forked end, used in dragging a heavy stone, a log, or the like, from a field. Lizard fish (Zoöl.), a marine scopeloid fish of the genus Synodus, or Saurus, esp. S. foetens of the Southern United States and West Indies; -- called also sand pike.

– Lizard snake (Zoöl.), the garter snake (Eutænia sirtalis).

– Lizard stone (Min.), a kind of serpentine from near Lizard Point, Cornwall, England, -- used for ornamental purposes.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 May 2025

CRITICAL

(adjective) characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; “a critical reading”; “a critical dissertation”; “a critical analysis of Melville’s writings”


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