Gila monster

UK/ˈhiːlə ˈmɒnstə(ɹ)//ˈhilə ˈmɑnstɚ/

Gila monster noun: a venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, that lives in the deserts of the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico.

Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

Gila monster (plural Gila monsters)

A venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, that lives in the deserts of the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico.
- Ever see one a them Gila monsters take hold, mister? Grabs hold, an’ you chop him in two an’ his head hangs on.1939, John Steinbeck, chapter 13, in The Grapes of Wrath, page 132

plural	Gila monsters

From the Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico, whose name may ultimately derive from a Yuma word meaning "running water which is salty".

What does Gila monster mean?: Gila monster means a venomous lizard, Heloderma suspectum, that lives in the deserts of the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico.
What is Gila monster in Indonesian?: Gila monster in Indonesian is kadal hila. See Gila monster meaning in Indonesian.
What part of speech is Gila monster?: Gila monster is a noun.
How do you pronounce Gila monster?: Gila monster is pronounced /ˈhiːlə ˈmɒnstə(ɹ)/ (UK).
What is the plural of Gila monster?: The plural of Gila monster is Gila monsters.

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gila monster (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-Gila monster.wav.

Cite this entry: “Gila monster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gila_monster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.