lizard

Etymology

From Middle English lesarde, lisarde, from Anglo-Norman lusard, from Old French lesard (compare French lézard), from Latin lacertus, which is of obscure origin. Displaced native Middle English aske, from Old English āþexe (> modern English ask, askard).

noun

  1. Any reptile of the order Squamata that is not a snake or an amphisbaenian, usually having four legs, external ear openings, movable eyelids and a long slender body and tail.
  2. (chiefly in attributive use) Lizard skin, the skin of these reptiles.
    Silver bells jingling from your black lizard boots, my baby / Silver foil to trim your wedding gown October 28 1990, Paul Simon, “Proof”, in The Rhythm of the Saints, Warner Bros.
  3. (colloquial) An unctuous person.
  4. (colloquial) A coward.
  5. (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.
  6. (in compounds) A person who idly spends time in a specified place, especially a promiscuous female.
    lounge lizard; lot lizard; beach lizard; truck stop lizard

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