English Explanatory Dictionary

gerbil

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

A member of one of several species of small, jumping, mouselike rodents of the subfamily Gerbillinae, native to Africa, India, and Southern Europe.

verb

To rotate inside a monowheel or similar apparatus due to sudden acceleration or braking.
To insert a small animal (typically a gerbil, supposedly) into one's rectum (a sexual practice in urban myth).

Pronunciation

/ˈd͡ʒɝbl̩/ /ˈdʒɜːbl̩/ En-au-gerbil.ogg

Word forms

gerbil gerbils gerbille jerbil gerbill gerbiling gerbilling gerbiled gerbilled

Etymology

From French gerbille, from Latin gerbo, from Arabic جَرْبُوع (jarbūʕ) or يَرْبُوع (yarbūʕ, “jerboa”). Doublet of jerboa.

Related words

Derived words

Anderson's gerbil antigerbil black-tailed gerbil Boehm's gerbil Burton's gerbil bushy-tailed hairy-footed gerbil Cape short-eared gerbil Cheesman's gerbil dune hairy-footed gerbil Emin's gerbil fat-tailed gerbil Flower's gerbil fringe-tailed gerbil gerbilarium gerbilectomy hairy-footed gerbil Harrington's gerbil Harwood's gerbil Hoogstraal's gerbil Indian gerbil James's gerbil Kemp's gerbil lesser short-tailed gerbil Mackilligin's gerbil Mauritanian gerbil midday gerbil Mongolian gerbil Namib brush-tailed gerbil Petter's gerbil Phillip's gerbil Przewalski's gerbil tamarisk gerbil Tarabul's gerbil Wagner's gerbil

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