# lizard

Pronunciation: US say "LIZ-urd" /ˈlɪz.ɚd/; UK say "LIZ-uhd" /ˈlɪz.əd/

## Noun

1. A scaly reptile of the order Squamata, other than a snake, usually having a rounded body, a short neck with a raised head, four limbs, and a long tail, though some kinds are legless.
   - Simple: A small reptile with four legs, a long tail, and dry scaly skin.
   - _The lizard darted across the path and vanished under a stone._
   - _Many desert lizards stay still during the hottest hours of the day._
2. The skin of a lizard, especially as prepared and used to make leather goods such as shoes, bags, and belts.
   - Simple: The skin of a lizard, often used as leather for shoes, belts, and bags.
   - _Her new clutch comes in glossy black lizard, finished with a gold clasp._
   - _Genuine lizard fetches high prices among leather makers._
3. A person who idles away a lot of time in a particular place, used mainly in compounds such as lounge lizard.
   - Simple: A person who spends lots of lazy time hanging around one place, like a bar or a beach.
   - _The hotel bar attracted lounge lizards who nursed one drink for hours._
   - _He had become a poolside lizard, lounging without purpose all summer._
4. A person who is oily and insincere in manner, given to false flattery. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A person who acts too smooth and falsely nice to get what they want.
   - _That lizard from sales flattered every client to close his deals._
   - _She saw through the lizard and his oily charm at once._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Someone who lacks courage and shrinks from danger or difficulty.
- (noun) A hand held like a puppet's closed mouth, fingertips pressed to the thumb, which in rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock beats paper and Spock but loses to rock and scissors.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English lesarde, from Anglo-Norman lusard and Old French lesard (compare French lézard), which came from Latin lacertus, a word of obscure origin. It replaced the native Old English word āþexe (source of the older English word ask/askard).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lizard (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).