Meaning & use
bearded dragon
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
a large Australian lizard with a wide head and spiny scales around its chin, often kept as a pet
Grammar: Countable: one bearded dragon, two bearded dragons. Often shortened to 'beardie' by owners.
Patterns
- keep a bearded dragon
- a pet bearded dragon
My cousin keeps a bearded dragon in a glass tank in his bedroom.
Bearded dragons need heat lamps and a diet of insects and vegetables.
The bearded dragon puffed up its throat when it felt threatened.
Word forms
| plural | bearded dragons |
|---|
Common combinations
- a pet bearded dragon
- A pet bearded dragon can live for about ten years with good care.
- keep a bearded dragon
- It is illegal to keep a bearded dragon in some countries.
- a baby bearded dragon
- Baby bearded dragons are very small and need tiny insects.
- a bearded dragon enclosure
- You should clean the bearded dragon enclosure every week.
Synonyms and how they differ
- beardie
- An informal pet name used by owners; it is not suitable for scientific writing.
- lizard
- A much broader word for any reptile of this type; a bearded dragon is one kind of lizard.
Commonly confused: bearded dragon or Komodo dragon?
bearded dragon vs Komodo dragon
A Komodo dragon is a huge, dangerous wild lizard from Indonesia, not a small pet. Both have 'dragon' in the name, but they are very different animals.
Practice
Bearded dragons are native ______ Australia.
Choose one answer.
We say a species is native 'to' a place. 'In' would describe where they live now, not where they come from, and 'at' and 'from' do not fit the pattern 'native ___ a country'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bearded dragon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.