Liz"ard (?), n. [OE. lesarde, OF. lesarde, F. l'ezard, L. lacerta, lacertus. Cf. Alligator, Lacerta.]
1. Zool.
Any one of the numerous species of reptiles belonging to the order Lacertilia; sometimes, also applied to reptiles of other orders, as the Hatteria.
⇒ 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 Amphisbaena, Chameleon, Gecko, Gila monster, Horned toad, Iguana, and Dragon, 6.
2. Naut.
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 Zool., a marine scopeloid fish of the genus Synodus, or Saurus, esp. S. fetens of the Southern United States and West Indies; -- called also sand pike. -- Lizard snake Zool., the garter snake (Eutaenia sirtalis). -- Lizard stone Min., a kind of serpentine from near Lizard Point, Cornwall, England, -- used for ornamental purposes.
© Webster 1913.