octopus

play

noun oc·to·pus \ ˈäk-tə-pəs , -ˌpu̇s \

Definition of octopus

plural octopuses or octopi play \ˈäk-tə-ˌpī\

1 :any of a genus (Octopus) of cephalopod mollusks that have eight muscular arms equipped with two rows of suckers; broadly :any octopod excepting the paper nautilus

2 :something that resembles an octopus especially in having many centrally directed branches

an octopus of a corporation which lends, buys, produces, and sells
—Atlantic

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See octopus defined for kids

Recent Examples of octopus from the Web

Other popular dishes include chargrilled baby octopus, oysters Rockefeller and lake perch tacos.

— jessi virtusio, Post-Tribune, "Bartlett's Fish Camp features fresh raw oysters," 30 Aug. 2017
This dish is a deeply flavored stew of octopus, small intestines, and shrimp in varying levels of heat, cooked tableside on an induction range.

— kate krader, Bloomberg.com, "Americans Are Eating More Brains as Offal Edges Into the Mainstream," 23 Aug. 2017
Other cephalopods, like octopuses and nautiluses, lack S-crystallin lens proteins.

— kai sinclair, Science | AAAS, "Watch the secret to a squid’s crystal clear underwater vision," 10 Aug. 2017
Finding Dory' (2016) The forgetful fish from Finding Nemo returns, this time with a 7-legged octopus (er, septapus) that brilliantly showcases Pixar's latest animation technology. 7. '

— carly mallenbaum, Cincinnati.com, "Stream these 10 Disney movies on Netflix while you can," 9 Aug. 2017
Remove the tentacles from the octopus and cut into bite-sized pieces.

— nancy miller, The Courier-Journal, "Summer cooking at Vincenzo's is family-inspired, vibrant and colorful," 8 Aug. 2017
Short fideo noodles form a bed for bits of octopus and smoky sausage.

— garrett snyder, Los Angeles Magazine, "The Los Angeles Magazine Hot Restaurant List for July 2017," 18 July 2017
The craggy outline of the cypress stumps seems almost purpose made to provide a refuge for the clever octopus.

— ben raines | braines@al.com, AL.com, "The creatures of the Underwater Forest, as seen in the documentary," 5 July 2017
Sweeney wrote in an email to The Baltimore Sun that the friends enjoyed grilled octopus, the Rock Shrimp Tempura and the Lobster Tempura.

— brittany britto, baltimoresun.com, "Drake dined at Azumi Thursday night, requested new Jay-Z album be played on speakers," 30 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'octopus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of octopus

Origin and Etymology of octopus

New Latin Octopod-, Octopus, from Greek oktōpous

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First Known Use: 1759

See Words from the same year

Other Invertebrates (Except Insects) Terms

anemone, cephalopod, quahog

OCTOPUS Defined for English Language Learners

octopus

play

noun

Definition of octopus for English Language Learners

: a sea animal that has a soft body and eight long arms
: the flesh of an octopus used as food

OCTOPUS Defined for Kids

octopus

play

noun oc·to·pus \ ˈäk-tə-pəs \

Definition of octopus for Students

plural octopuses or octopi \-tə-ˌpī\

:a marine animal that has a soft rounded body with eight long flexible arms about its base which have sucking disks able to seize and hold things (as prey)