goanna

noun

go·​an·​na gō-ˈa-nə 

: any of several large Australian monitor lizards (genus Varanus of the family Varanidae)

Examples of goanna in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Analyzing the footage, the researchers saw several kinds of scavengers visiting the carcasses, including birds, goannas, foxes, and cats. —Bygennaro Tomma, science.org, 11 July 2024

The lizards, known locally as goannas, are an important apex predator and a food source for the Bunuba and other Indigenous people who live in the region. —Elizabeth Pennisi, science.org, 5 July 2024

But the backfilled goanna burrow kept going. —Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 25 June 2021

On the weekends, a group of us would go out to the bush, hunting for goanna, which is a kind of lizard. —Brendan Borrell, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2014

An Australian goanna, one of the many predatory species being wiped out by the invasive toads. —Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 28 Sep. 2015

But in a fishing village thousands of miles away, where giant goannas scuttled through gumtrees and kookaburras laughed, my siblings were hunting for wild animal scat and leaping into the ocean. —New York Times, 17 Jan. 2020

In Australia, dingo, eagle, and goanna populations are likely to benefit from the ample carrion provided by these fires. —Abby Jones, The Conversation, 10 Jan. 2020

However, the ongoing mass mortality of kangaroo, koala and other large animals will produce more carcasses than scavengers – eagles, dingoes and a species of reptiles known as goannas – can keep up with. —Abby Jones, The Conversation, 10 Jan. 2020

Word History

Etymology

alteration of iguana

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for goanna

• annona
• bellona
• cardona
• cinchona
• kimono
• persona
• ramona
• belladonna
• desdemona
• bona
• dona
• jonah