lizard

/ˈlɪzərd/

/ˈlɪzəd/

Other forms: lizards

A lizard is a type of reptile that has scales for skin, a long body, a pointy tail, and usually four legs. And they breathe fire. Okay, maybe not that last part, but that would be awesome.

Lizards can be smaller than an inch long, or massive in size and weight — like the Komodo dragon, which can grow over ten feet in length. A type of lizard called a chameleon can change colors whenever it wants, and the Jesus lizard can walk on water. Most lizards live in deserts or jungles, however the word lizard comes from the Latin lacertus, which means “sea fish” — perhaps because they look like a monster that crawled out of the ocean.

Definitions of lizard

1. noun

   relatively long-bodied reptile with usually two pairs of legs and a tapering tail
   types:

   gecko

   any of various small chiefly tropical and usually nocturnal insectivorous terrestrial lizards typically with immovable eyelids; completely harmless

   iguanid, iguanid lizard

   lizards of the New World and Madagascar and some Pacific islands; typically having a long tail and bright throat patch in males

   worm lizard

   a lizard of the genus Amphisbaena; harmless wormlike limbless lizard of warm or tropical regions having concealed eyes and ears and a short blunt tail

   night lizard

   small secretive nocturnal lizard of southwestern North America and Cuba; bear live young

   scincid, scincid lizard, skink

   alert agile lizard with reduced limbs and an elongated body covered with shiny scales; more dependent on moisture than most lizards; found in tropical regions worldwide

   teiid, teiid lizard

   tropical New World lizard with a long tail and large rectangular scales on the belly and a long tail

   agamid, agamid lizard

   a lizard of the family Agamidae

   anguid lizard

   any of a small family of lizards widely distributed in warm areas; all are harmless and useful as destroyers of e.g. slugs and insects

   legless lizard

   degenerate wormlike burrowing lizard of California closely related to alligator lizards

   Lanthanotus borneensis

   a stout-bodied pleurodont lizard of Borneo

   venomous lizard

   any of two or three large heavy-bodied lizards; only known venomous lizards

   lacertid, lacertid lizard

   Old World terrestrial lizard

   chamaeleon, chameleon

   lizard of Africa and Madagascar able to change skin color and having a projectile tongue

   monitor, monitor lizard, varan

   any of various large tropical carnivorous lizards of Africa and Asia and Australia; fabled to warn of crocodiles

   Ptychozoon homalocephalum, flying gecko, fringed gecko

   a gecko that has membranous expansions along the sides of its body and limbs and tail that enable it to glide short distances

   banded gecko

   any of several geckos with dark bands across the body and differing from typical geckos in having movable eyelids; of United States southwest and Florida Gulf Coast

   Iguana iguana, common iguana, iguana

   large herbivorous tropical American arboreal lizards with a spiny crest along the back; used as human food in Central America and South America

   Amblyrhynchus cristatus, marine iguana

   shore-dwelling seaweed-eating lizard of the Galapagos Islands

   Dipsosaurus dorsalis, desert iguana

   small long-tailed lizard of arid areas of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico

   Sauromalus obesus, chuckwalla

   a herbivorous lizard that lives among rocks in the arid parts of southwestern United States and Mexico

   Callisaurus draconoides, gridiron-tailed lizard, zebra-tailed lizard

   swift lizard with long black-banded tail and long legs; of deserts of United States and Mexico

   Uma notata, fringe-toed lizard

   with long pointed scales around toes; of deserts of United States and Mexico

   earless lizard

   any of several slender lizards without external ear openings: of plains of western United States and Mexico

   collared lizard

   any of several robust long-tailed lizards with collars of two dark bands; of central and western United States and northern Mexico

   leopard lizard

   any of several large lizards with many dark spots; of western United States and northern Mexico

   spiny lizard

   any of numerous lizards with overlapping ridged pointed scales; of North America and Central America

   Uta stansburiana, sand lizard, side-blotched lizard

   one of the most abundant lizards in the arid western United States

   Urosaurus ornatus, tree lizard

   a climbing lizard of western United States and northern Mexico

   horned lizard, horned toad, horny frog

   insectivorous lizard with hornlike spines on the head and spiny scales on the body; of western North America

   basilisk

   small crested arboreal lizard able to run on its hind legs; of tropical America

   American chameleon, Anolis carolinensis, anole

   small arboreal tropical American insectivorous lizards with the ability to change skin color

   Eumeces skiltonianus, western skink

   found in western North American grasslands and open woodlands

   Eumeces callicephalus, mountain skink

   frequents oak and pine habitats in rocky mountainous areas of United States southwest and Mexico

   whiptail, whiptail lizard

   any of numerous very agile and alert New World lizards

   teju

   large (to 3 feet) blackish yellow-banded South American lizard; raid henhouses; used as food

   caiman lizard

   crocodile-like lizard of South America having powerful jaws for crushing snails and mussels

   agama

   small terrestrial lizard of warm regions of the Old World

   Chlamydosaurus kingi, frilled lizard

   large arboreal insectivorous Australian lizard with a ruff of skin around the neck

   dragon, flying dragon, flying lizard

   any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body

   moloch

   any lizard of the genus Moloch

   alligator lizard

   slim short-limbed lizard having a distinctive fold on each side that permits expansion; of western North America

   Anguis fragilis, blindworm, slowworm

   small burrowing legless European lizard with tiny eyes; popularly believed to be blind

   glass lizard, glass snake, joint snake

   snakelike lizard of Europe and Asia and North America with vestigial hind limbs and the ability to regenerate its long fragile tail

   Gila monster, Heloderma suspectum

   large orange and black lizard of southwestern United States; not dangerous unless molested

   Heloderma horridum, Mexican beaded lizard, beaded lizard

   lizard with black and yellowish beadlike scales; of western Mexico

   Lacerta agilis, sand lizard

   a common and widely distributed lizard of Europe and central Asia

   Lacerta viridis, green lizard

   a common Eurasian lizard about a foot long

   African chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon

   a chameleon found in Africa

   Chamaeleo oweni, horned chameleon

   a kind of chameleon

   African monitor, Varanus niloticus

   destroys crocodile eggs

   Komodo dragon, Komodo lizard, Varanus komodoensis, dragon lizard, giant lizard

   the largest lizard in the world (10 feet); found on Indonesian islands

   type of:

   saurian

   any of various reptiles of the suborder Sauria which includes lizards; in former classifications included also the crocodiles and dinosaurs
2. noun

   a man who idles about in the lounges of hotels and bars in search of women who would support him
   synonyms: lounge lizard

   type of:

   gigolo

   a man who has sex with and is supported by a woman