polyp
Zoology.
a sedentary type of animal form characterized by a more or less fixed base, columnar body, and free end with mouth and tentacles, especially as applied to coelenterates.
an individual zooid of a compound or colonial organism.
Pathology. a projecting growth from a mucous surface, as of the nose, being either a tumor or a hypertrophy of the mucous membrane.
Origin of polyp
1Other words from polyp
- pol·yp·ous, adjective
Words Nearby polyp
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use polyp in a sentence
During a colonoscopy, a physician looks for and removes polyps, growths of tissue that can become cancerous.
A study questioning colonoscopy screening’s benefits has big caveats | Aimee Cunningham | October 21, 2022 | Science NewsAlgae living inside the polyp appear orange or pink, while the coral’s tissues shine blue.
A glimpse inside a gecko’s hand won the 2022 Nikon Small World photo contest | Erin Garcia de Jesús | October 11, 2022 | Science NewsCenter stage are the photosynthetic algae that harness the power of the sun, providing energy to their animal host, the coral polyp.
Probiotics help lab corals survive deadly heat stress | Jonathan Lambert | August 13, 2021 | Science NewsUnder heat stress, corals’ algae spew toxic chemicals, prompting polyps to kick them out.
Probiotics help lab corals survive deadly heat stress | Jonathan Lambert | August 13, 2021 | Science NewsNo one really understood why bleaching occurred, only that if a coral polyp remained without its algae for too long, it could starve and die.
When Evolution Is Infectious - Issue 90: Something Green | Moises Velasquez-Manoff | September 30, 2020 | Nautilus
Qatar is just a little spit of land that looks like a polyp on edge of Saudi Arabia.
Coastal construction gives them more places for their polyp stages to colonize.
Beware at the Beach, the Jellyfish Rule the Seas and It’s Our Fault | Lisa-ann Gershwin | June 20, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTA pedantic and self-important “paper architect,” polyp goes into crisis when his marriage dissolves.
polyp hops a Greyhound bus and lands in a small rural town, where he talks his way into a job as a car mechanic.
It is in the most beautiful azure depths of the limpid water that this hideous, voracious polyp delights.
Toilers of the Sea | Victor HugoThus a polyp, if hard put to it, may shift what little brain and stomach happen to be in his possession.
Each several coral-individual is equivalent to a single living polyp (actinia).
The Wonders of Life | Ernst HaeckelThe corallite is composed of carbonate of lime secreted by the polyp, and, broadly speaking, may be called a skeleton.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide | Augusta Foote ArnoldThe polyp on the upper end continues to live and rises above the excess of solid matter.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide | Augusta Foote Arnold
British Dictionary definitions for polyp
/ (ˈpɒlɪp) /
zoology one of the two forms of individual that occur in coelenterates. It usually has a hollow cylindrical body with a ring of tentacles around the mouth: Compare medusa (def. 2)
Also called: polypus pathol a small vascularized growth arising from the surface of a mucous membrane, having a rounded base or a stalklike projection
Origin of polyp
1Derived forms of polyp
- polypous, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for polyp
[ pŏl′ĭp ]
A cnidarian in its sedentary stage. Polyps have hollow, tube-shaped bodies with a central mouth on top surrounded by tentacles. Some cnidarians, such as corals and sea anemones, only exist as polyps after their larval stage, while others turn into medusas as adults or lack a polyp stage completely. Compare medusa.
An abnormal growth extending from a mucous membrane, as of the intestine.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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