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# lizard

noun (a lizard, lizards)

«lizard» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

A lizard is a reptile with scaly skin, four short legs and a long tail, such as a gecko or iguana. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#m1)

### In the lessons

In science, lizards are cold-blooded reptiles: they bask in the sun to warm up. Most lay eggs. Some can drop their tail to escape a predator and grow a new one. Australia has many lizards (goannas, bearded dragons, blue-tongues); geckos can climb walls. Komodo dragons are the biggest lizards. In safety, do not grab wild lizards; some bite, and reptiles can carry germs, so wash hands after touching a pet lizard. Phrases: lizard tail, a pet lizard, sunbathing like a lizard.

### Examples

- A lizard was sunbathing on the warm rock. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x1)
- The gecko is a lizard that can climb walls. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x2)
- The lizard dropped its tail and ran away. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x3)
- Lizards are reptiles with scaly skin. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x4)
- My cousin has a pet bearded dragon, which is a kind of lizard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x5)
- Wash your hands after holding a lizard. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x6)
- He looked like a giant lizard with legs and arms. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/#x7)

### Note

Plural lizards. Snakes are reptiles too but have no legs; a lizard usually has legs, eyelids and ear holes. Salamanders and newts look like lizards but are amphibians with smooth wet skin.

## In Jewish tradition

The lizard is listed among the swarming creatures that are unclean, so people could not eat them or touch their dead bodies.

**Interpretation.** Tradition treats these lists as the laws of kosher and non-kosher animals. The rabbis say they are for holiness and self-control, and no reason is given for each animal.

### Examples

- and the gecko, and the land-crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand-lizard, and the chameleon. (Torah LEV.11.30, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/lizard/#x1)
- And these are they which are unclean unto you among the swarming things that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kinds, (Torah LEV.11.29, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/lizard/#x2)

### Note

Plural lizards. Snakes are reptiles too but have no legs; a lizard usually has legs, eyelids and ear holes. Salamanders and newts look like lizards but are amphibians with smooth wet skin.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «lizard» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/lizard/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«lizard» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/lizard.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «lizard» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/L/lizard/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«lizard» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/lizard.html) on Mova free.