: any of various long slender American lizards (genera Aspidoscelis and Cnemidophorus) having a whiplike tail and including some forms that are parthenogenetic

Examples of whiptail in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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How the New Mexico whiptail became a gay icon Mutation Research/Fundamental and Mechanisms of Mutagenesis. Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 22 Mar. 2024 New Mexico whiptails actually represent a remarable evolutionary feat: Their lineage came about via the union of two separate species, the little striped whiptail and the western whiptail. Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Feb. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1933, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of whiptail was in 1933

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Cite this Entry

“Whiptail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whiptail. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.

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