Tadpole
['tædpəʊl] or ['tæd'pol]
Definition
(n.) The young aquatic larva of any amphibian. In this stage it breathes by means of external or internal gills, is at first destitute of legs, and has a finlike tail. Called also polliwig, polliwog, porwiggle, or purwiggy.
(n.) The hooded merganser.
Inputed by Alisa
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Polliwog, porwiggle, purwiggy, polliwig.
Checked by Benita
Definition
n. a young toad or frog in its first state before the tail is absorbed and the limbs pushed forth.—n. Tad (U.S.) a street-boy.
Edited by Darrell
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of tadpoles, foretells uncertain speculation will bring cause for uneasiness in business. For a young woman to see them in clear water, foretells she will form a relation with a wealthy but immoral man.
Edited by Linda
Examples
- My dear Watson,--I have no doubt that you can remember Tadpole Phelps, who was in the fifth form when you were in the third. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- The Ebers papyr us shows that the Egyptians knew of the development of the beetle from the egg, of the blow-fly from the larva, and of the frog from the tadpole. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- A tadpole is for a time a fish; it becomes a land creature as it develops. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The young tadpole has branching external gills that wave in the water; then a gill cover grows back over them and forms a gill chamber. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- From the beginning it must breathe in air; it can never breathe under water as a tadpole can do. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Edited by ELLA