gecko
Americannoun
-
geckos,
plural
-
geckoes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gecko
1705–15; < New Latin gekko < Dutch; origin uncertain; alleged to be a Malay word imitative of the lizard's call.
Explanation
A gecko is a small reptile with sticky feet that help it to climb smooth surfaces. In many warm parts of the world, geckos are commonly found on windows, doors, and ceilings. Most geckos are green, although these little reptiles come in nearly every color you can imagine, from brown to electric blue. Their skin is hairy, unlike the thick, rough scales of many lizards. In addition to their famously sticky feet, geckos are notable for their lack of eyelids (they lick their eyeballs to keep them moist), and "scored" tails that snap off easily in the clutches of a predator and grow back rapidly.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Turtles and tortoises rarely develop the disease, but a white and yellow leopard gecko known in the pet trade as the "lemon frost" morph develops aggressive tumors in about 80% of individuals.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Her favorite is their outdoor table, which Greene crafted from leftover teak and inlaid with gecko leaves, a nod to her late mother’s favorite plant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
As a common terms, the authors suggested "van Gogh’s starry dwarf gecko."
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2024
When researchers discovered a gecko that reminded them of the paintings of van Gogh, they gave it the scientific name Cnemaspis vangoghi.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2024
A wall gecko had scuttled out from behind the wood-framed photo of Odenigbo in a graduating gown, and Ugwu shouted, “Egbukwala! Don’t kill it!”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In particular, the front surfaces of the vertebrae of known snakes and lizards except geckoes are concave, and the rear surfaces are convex; that doesn’t appear to be the case in Tetrapodophis, he says.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 23, 2015
After two hours of searching the cactus, aloe, and prickly acacia—sometimes crawling to get a better look at tree trunks and leaf litter—I counted exactly six whiptail lizards, three toads, two geckoes, and one santanero.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2011
Most geckoes are dull coloured, yellow to brown, and they soon change colour from lighter to dark tints.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 5 "Gassendi, Pierre" to "Geocentric" by Various
On the narrow table, under cover of stray articles and papers, grey bead-eyed geckoes craftily stalked moths and beetles and other fanatic worshippers of flame as they hastened to sacrifice themselves to the lamp.
From My Tropic Isle by E. J. (Edmund James) Banfield
They never willingly descend from trees, but prey there upon nocturnal Saurians, geckoes, small birds and their young; and they are perfectly harmless, although they often try to bite.
From Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon by Sir James Emerson Tennent
Wildlife enthusiast Fred, who had just turned six at the time of filming in the summer and autumn of 2024, enjoyed spotting scorpions, snakes, monkeys, monitor lizards, eagles, hermit crabs, geckos and flying lemurs.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
Some species have physical traits that serve as models for new materials and technologies, such as surfaces designed to mimic the "super-clinging" feet that allow geckos to scale vertical walls.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 24, 2025
Spanish police announced on Saturday they had raided a unlicensed animal sanctuary and rescued hundreds of exotic creatures including leopard tortoises, iguanas and geckos.
From Barron's ● Nov. 15, 2025
Listed as threatened since 1990, these long-lived reptiles don’t live alone; they can dig up to 25 burrows a year—and share the space with creatures from geckos to cottontails.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 12, 2023
At this school, that included the three monitors, plus a group of geckos who played in the school marching band, and a Komodo dragon with terrible breath who everyone—mammal, bird, and lizard alike—avoided.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
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