amphibious

adjective

am·phib·i·ous am-ˈfi-bē-əs

: combining two characteristics

: relating to or adapted for both land and water

amphibious vehicles

: executed by coordinated action of land, sea, and air forces organized for invasion

an amphibious landing

also : trained or organized for such action

amphibious forces

: able to live both on land and in water

amphibious plants

amphibiously adverb

amphibiousness noun

Examples of amphibious in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web These can be used by the Navy’s two active-duty amphibious marine battalions. —

Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 3 Sep. 2023 The sinking of the Moskva was an embarrassing blow to Russia, whose warships pulled back from Ukraine's coast afterward, reducing the threat of an amphibious attack on Odesa. —

Peter Weber, The Week, 25 Aug. 2023 Off-base training incidents involving Camp Pendleton Marines have also turned deadly, including in April 2020, when an amphibious transport sank near San Clemente Island killing nine service members. —

Lyndsay Winkley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Aug. 2023 Small, heavily armored missile boats capable of hiding in small fishing ports and then unleashing barrages of missiles at amphibious transport ships, are ideal. —

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023 The Navy says a photo posted on social media Thursday likely gave some people the wrong impression that the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer suffered a serious mechanical problem after sailing out of San Diego Bay. —

Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Aug. 2023 That month, General Douglas MacArthur’s U.N. forces surprised the North Koreans with a daring amphibious landing at Incheon, west of Seoul, turning the tide of the war. —

Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times, 27 July 2023 What prosecutors allege the sailors did According to the indictment against him, 22-year-old Wei served as a machinist's mate aboard the amphibious ship USS Essex, which has recently been receiving maintenance at Naval Base San Diego. —

Luis Martinez, ABC News, 8 Aug. 2023 The next month, Wei allegedly passed along information about the real-time locations of several of the Navy’s seven Wasp-class landing helicopter dock amphibious assault ships, according to the indictment. —

Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'amphibious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Latin amphibius "living both on land and in water" (borrowed from Greek amphíbios "living a double life, living both on land and in the water," from amphi- amphi- + -bios "having such a mode of life," derivative of bíos "life") + -ous — more at quick entry 1

First Known Use

1608, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of amphibious was in 1608

See more words from the same year