From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgerbilger‧bil /ˈdʒɜːbəl $ ˈdʒɜːr-/ noun [countable] DHPHBAa small animal with fur, a tail, and long back legs, that is often kept as a pet
Examples from the Corpus
gerbil• Nelo said, holding her hand, patting it like a gerbil.• You'd have trouble swinging a gerbil, let alone a cat, in the kitchen.• A gerbil would have struggled to make it out alive.• This is a large species of eagle owl, hunting the large gerbil that lives on the short grass plains of Serengeti.• One by one the gerbils were scooped up, turned over, inspected, and dropped back.• Q My children think the world of their gerbil.• I've got two gerbils and a hamster.Origin gerbil (1800-1900) French gerbille, from Latin gerboa “jerboa”, a type of small animal, from Arabic yarbu' 