Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) a lizard of Africa and Madagascar able to change skin color and having a projectile tongue.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Archaic spelling of chameleon.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a faint constellation in the polar region of the southern hemisphere near Apus and Mensa
  • noun lizard of Africa and Madagascar able to change skin color and having a projectile tongue

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The Regent, in short, could scarcely have discovered a Scottish adviser worthy of employment, and when she did trust one, he was the brilliant "chamaeleon," young

    John Knox and the Reformation Andrew Lang 1878

  • It can only be a matter of time.12.16pm: "Sorry Tom," says Phil Reynolds, "it's definitely a chamaeleon climbing a twig."

    Transfer window deadline day 2012 – as it happened 2012

  • Another powder for the same ulcers: - The black chamaeleon, when prepared with the juice of the fig. It is to be prepared roasted, and alkanet mixed with it.

    On Ulcers 2007

  • Another: - Of the dried fig, of the flower of copper levigated a little, and the juice of the fig. The preparation from dried fig: - The black chamaeleon, the dried gall of an ox, the other things the same.

    On Ulcers 2007

  • In the reptiles the Transkei dwarf chamaeleon (Bradypodion caffrum), Günther's burrowing skink (Scelotes guentheri), the skink Acontias poecilus and the gecko Cryptactites peringueyi are all regarded as strictly endemic to this ecoregion.

    KwaZulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic 2007

  • The Regent, in short, could scarcely have discovered a Scottish adviser worthy of employment, and when she did trust one, he was the brilliant “chamaeleon,” young Maitland of Lethington, who would rather betray his master cleverly than run a straight course, and did betray the Regent.

    John Knox and the Reformation Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 1905

  • If ever there was a blatantly "political chamaeleon" --- IT IS JOE BIDEN.

    Home | The New York Observer 2008

  • As the political chamaeleon said in the debate "IT IS A MATTER OF FAIRNESS."

    Home | The New York Observer 2008

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