chuckwalla

[ chuhk-wah-luh ]
/ ˈtʃʌkˌwɑ lə /

noun

an iguanid lizard, Sauromalis obesus, of arid parts of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, that feeds on desert plants.

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Origin of chuckwalla

1865–70, Americanism;<California Spanish chacahuala<Cahuilla čáxwal

Words nearby chuckwalla

chuckle, chucklehead, chuck off, chuck out, chuck wagon, chuckwalla, chuck-will's-widow, chucky, chuddar, chuddies, chuddy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for chuckwalla

  • You've had water three times to our once, and yet you go to work and peter out with Chuckwalla Tanks only five miles away.

    The Long Chance|Peter B. Kyne

  • If we don't strike water at Chuckwalla Tanks there'll be real eloquence to that word 'perhaps.'

    The Long Chance|Peter B. Kyne

  • Here and there a chuckwalla darted across the trail or a rock squirrel sat on his haunches and scolded as we passed.

    I Married a Ranger|Dama Margaret Smith

British Dictionary definitions for chuckwalla

chuckwalla
/ (ˈtʃʌkˌwɒlə) /

noun

a lizard, Sauromalus obesus, that has an inflatable body and inhabits desert regions of the southwestern US: family Iguanidae (iguanas)

Word Origin for chuckwalla

from Mexican Spanish chacahuala, from Shoshonean tcaxxwal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012