variants
or less commonly gerbille
: any of numerous Old World burrowing desert rodents (Gerbillus and related genera) with long hind legs adapted for leaping
Examples of gerbil in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
At 231 Mysterium Way, the pizza is fatal, the bus is powered by gerbils and the dean of students is a hermit crab.
—
Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 12 Feb. 2024
At 231 Mysterium Way, the pizza is fatal, the bus is powered by gerbils, and the dean of students is a hermit crab.
—Lexy Perez, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024
Do not use the trash can in the kitchen, as there is a huge problem with mice, rats, and gerbils.
—Julia Young, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2023
One staffer said there were more than 30 animals, including cats, gerbils and fish.
—Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2023
Turns out Betsy Ross is the biggest lie your kindergarten teacher ever told you (except that Bubbles the class gerbil was moving to a farm upstate).
—Josh Axelrod and Saeed Ahmed, CNN, 14 June 2021
The gerbil lives again!
—Maureen O’Hara, Fortune, 23 Mar. 2023
While growing up in Oak Park and Southfield and spending time on Detroit’s east side with her father’s family, LaDelle was always interested in writing — and good enough at it to make her elementary school teacher cry with her poem about the death of the classroom gerbil.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 2 Sep. 2022
Carrying rolling balances on credit cards is akin to being a caged gerbil on a wheel, going nowhere fast.
—Larry Light, Forbes, 30 May 2021
Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 12 Feb. 2024
At 231 Mysterium Way, the pizza is fatal, the bus is powered by gerbils, and the dean of students is a hermit crab.
—Lexy Perez, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024
Do not use the trash can in the kitchen, as there is a huge problem with mice, rats, and gerbils.
—Julia Young, The New Yorker, 22 Nov. 2023
One staffer said there were more than 30 animals, including cats, gerbils and fish.
—Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2023
Turns out Betsy Ross is the biggest lie your kindergarten teacher ever told you (except that Bubbles the class gerbil was moving to a farm upstate).
—Josh Axelrod and Saeed Ahmed, CNN, 14 June 2021
The gerbil lives again!
—Maureen O’Hara, Fortune, 23 Mar. 2023
While growing up in Oak Park and Southfield and spending time on Detroit’s east side with her father’s family, LaDelle was always interested in writing — and good enough at it to make her elementary school teacher cry with her poem about the death of the classroom gerbil.
—Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, 2 Sep. 2022
Carrying rolling balances on credit cards is akin to being a caged gerbil on a wheel, going nowhere fast.
—Larry Light, Forbes, 30 May 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gerbil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Gerbil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gerbil. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gerbil
noun
ger·bil
ˈjər-bəl 
: any of several Old World desert rodents with long hind legs
Medical Definition
gerbil
noun
ger·bil
variants
also gerbille
: any of numerous Old World burrowing desert rodents (Gerbillus and related genera) with long hind legs adapted for leaping
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