Nearby Words

Octopus

[ok-tuh-puhs] Example Sentences Origin

oc·to·pus

[ok-tuh-puhs]
noun, plural -pus·es, -pi [-pahy] .
1.
any octopod of the genus Octopus, having a soft, oval body and eight sucker-bearing arms, living mostly at the bottom of the sea.
2.
something likened to an octopus, as an organization with many forms of far-reaching influence or control.

Origin:
1750–60; < Neo-Latin < Greek oktṓpous (plural oktṓpodes) eight-footed; see octo-, -pod
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Octopus is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Example Sentences
  • For a tender octopus try brining or give octopus juice a chance to do the stewing.
  • The technology for doing this is demonstrated daily by members of the octopus and cuttlefish families.
  • The common octopus can change its appearance to hide from predators-and prey.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
octopus (ˈɒktəpəs)
 
n , pl -puses
1.  any cephalopod mollusc of the genera Octopus, Eledone, etc, having a soft oval body with eight long suckered tentacles and occurring at the sea bottom: order Octopoda (octopods)
2.  a powerful influential organization with far-reaching effects, esp harmful ones
3.  another name for spider
 
[C18: via New Latin from Greek oktōpous having eight feet]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

octopus
1758, genus name of a type of eight-armed cephalopod mollusks, from Gk. oktopous "eight-footed," from okto "eight" (see eight) + pous "foot." Proper plural is octopodes, though octopuses probably works better in English. Octopi is from mistaken assumption that -us is the L.
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noun ending that takes -i in plural.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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