Leviticus 11:30 (R.V., "gecko"), one of the unclean creeping things. It was perhaps the Lacerta gecko which was intended by the Hebrew word (anakah, a cry, "mourning, " the creature which groans) here used, i.e., the "fan-footed" lizard, the gecko which makes a mournful wail. The LXX. translate it by a word meaning "shrew-mouse," of which there are three species in Palestine. The Rabbinical writers regard it as the hedgehog. The translation of the Revised Version is to be preferred.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) An animal of the Weasel family (Mustela / Putorius furo), about fourteen inches in length, of a pale yellow or white color, with red eyes. It is a native of Africa, but has been domesticated in Europe. Ferrets are used to drive rabbits and rats out of their holes.

2. (n.) To drive or hunt out of a lurking place, as a ferret does the cony; to search out by patient and sagacious efforts; -- often used with out; as, to ferret out a secret.

3. (n.) A kind of narrow tape, usually made of woolen; sometimes of cotton or silk; -- called also ferreting.

4. (n.) The iron used for trying the melted glass to see if is fit to work, and for shaping the rings at the mouths of bottles.