gecko
Syllables: gec·koUK/ˈɡɛk.əʊ/US/ˈɡɛk.oʊ/
gecko noun: any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.
Noun (1)
gecko (plural geckos or geckoes)
- Any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.
- Any lizard of the family Gekkonidae of small, carnivorous, mostly nocturnal animals with large eyes and adhesive toes enabling them to climb on vertical and upside-down surfaces.
- Order II. Sauria. […] The heart has two auricles. The body is covered with scales, and there are three or four feet. The lungs are large, and extend along the back. The mouth is armed with teeth, and the toes with claws. The tail is long, and often thick at the base. […] Geckotida—geco1839, William Rhind, “Reptiles”, in Elements of Zoology; Embracing a View of Life as Manifested in the Various Gradations of Organized Beings, Edinburgh: Fraser & Crawford; John Anderson, Junior; and...
- Leishmania infantum in Experimental Animals.—Experiments were carried out with geckoes, white mice, field mice (Microtus güntheri) and hamsters (Cricetus auratus and Cricetulus griseus).1931, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences, volume 108, London: Royal Society of London, →OCLC, page 456
Verb
gecko (third-person singular simple present geckos, present participle geckoing, simple past and past participle geckoed)
- To move in the manner of a gecko; to attach to a vertical or upside-down surface.
- An emergency handpad, geckoed to the expanding bulkhead, slid past to one side. Sarasti grabbed it and tapped commands.2006 October, Peter Watts, Blindsight, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 344
- And as Dave geckoed his way along the walls, he began seeing more and more skid marks left behind by Damien's Sewer Cruiser.2009, Wendelin Van Draanen, The Gecko & Sticky: The Greatest Power, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, page 33
Noun (2)
gecko
gecko meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Bengali and Kannada
gecko in Tamil
- lizard of the family Gekkonidae
- பாரதிக்கு pāratikku
gecko in Marathi
- lizard of the family Gekkonidae
- पाल pāl
gecko in Bengali
- lizard of the family Gekkonidae
- তক্ষক tokkhok
gecko in Kannada
- a gecko; house lizard
- ಪಲ್ಲಿ palli
More languagesFewer languages
- gecko in Sinhala
- හූනා hūnā
- gecko in Assamese
- কেঁকো kẽkü, কেঁকোসাপ kẽküxap
- gecko in Tagalog
- tuko
- gecko in Arabic
- وَزَغَة wazaḡa
- gecko in Malay
- tokek
- gecko in Indonesian
- tokek, toke
- gecko in Thai
- ตุ๊กแก dtúk-gɛɛ, จิ้งจก jîng-jòk
- gecko in Vietnamese
- tắc kè, cắc kè
- gecko in Myanmar
- တောက်တဲ့ tauktai.
Examples of gecko in a sentence
- GECKOES constitute a family of lizards remarkable for the large number of species it contains.1962, Maurice Burton, “Geckoes”, in The Illustrated London News, volume CCXL, number II, London: Illustrated London News & Sketch Ltd....
- The marvelous ability of geckos to run down trees, surefooted and head first, was first noted by Aristotle over two thousand years ago.2009 January, Ginel Corina Hill, “Introduction”, in Dual-axis MEMS Force Sensors for Gecko Adhesion Studies (unpublished Ph.D....
- The potential uses for gecko-inspired adhesive products are nearly endless.2014, Wil Mara, From Gecko Feet to Adhesive Tape (Innovations from Nature), Ann Arbor, Mich.: Cherry Lake Publishing, →ISBN, pages 21–22:
- The Golden-tailed Gecko is an invertebrate-eater and by night its adhesive toe pads allow it to prowl the branches of Brigalow trees with ease, looking for small insects and spiders to capture.2016, Martyn Robinson, Australian Wildlife after Dark, Clayton, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing, →ISBN:
Synonyms of gecko
Forms of gecko
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | geckos |
| plural | geckoes |
| alternative form | chacco |
| alternative form | geco |
| alternative form | gekko |
| alternative form | jackoa |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | geckos |
| present participle | geckoing |
| past participle | geckoed |
| past | geckoed |
Origin of gecko
The modern form was probably borrowed into English and other European languages from Dutch gekko (1718). Contemporary English forms were chacco (1711) and jackoa (1724). The further origin is not quite clear. Some sources mention a supposed Malay gekok, gekoq, or gekop, which would be imitative of the gecko’s chirping sound. Another theory derives it from Acehnese gèh-gòh (“busy”).
Words formed from gecko
- geckoless
- geckolike
- gekkonine
Phrases with gecko
Words that rhyme with gecko
Questions about gecko
- What does gecko mean?
- Gecko means any lizard in the infraorder Gekkota.
- What is gecko in Tamil?
- Gecko in Tamil is பாரதிக்கு (pāratikku). See Gecko meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use gecko in a sentence?
- GECKOES constitute a family of lizards remarkable for the large number of species it contains.
- What part of speech is gecko?
- Gecko can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce gecko?
- Gecko is pronounced /ˈɡɛk.əʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of gecko?
- The plural of gecko is geckos.
Words near gecko in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gecko (page history and authors); ಪಲ್ಲಿ (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-gecko.ogg.
Cite this entry: “gecko.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gecko. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.