-
Trending Now:
More Trending:
- transgender beleaguer scaramouch non sequitur admiral's mast
- ALL
Definition of tadpole
: a larval amphibian; specifically : a frog or toad larva that has a rounded body with a long tail bordered by fins and external gills soon replaced by internal gills and that undergoes a metamorphosis to the adult
People Are Reading
Recent Examples of tadpole from the Web
-
Everything about the free event, from face painting to the tadpole dip with instructions on how to grow a frog, is intended to encourage community, to serve as a real country social.
-
Families can explore the four-acre Children's Garden and stop at Wonder Pond to look for the tadpoles that hatch there every spring.
-
There will be reduced admission plus activities for kids and parents, including a tram ride and craft project, ground cover garden walk, chance to answer tree-via questions, hands-on tadpole and toad activity, and more.
-
In close encounters of the bitey kind, cannibal tadpoles release siblings unharmed and consume non-relatives.
-
Last year, thousands of tadpoles were released in Yosemite National Park, where the natural population vanished more than 40 years ago.
-
Cannibalism exists among polar bears, spiders, tadpoles, chimpanzees, sharks and humans.
-
A bizarre frog that breeds inside trees and lays eggs for its tadpoles to eat has been rediscovered in northeastern India after 150 years.
-
A researcher named one of the tadpole’s heads Arne, and the other head Sebastian, after two of his colleagues.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tadpole'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Illustration of tadpole
Origin and Etymology of tadpole
Middle English taddepol, from tode toad + polle head
TADPOLE Defined for English Language Learners
tadpole
playDefinition of tadpole for English Language Learners
-
: a small creature that becomes an adult frog or toad, that has a rounded body and a long tail, and that lives in water
TADPOLE Defined for Kids
tadpole
playDefinition of tadpole for Students
: the larva of a frog or toad that has a long tail, breathes with gills, and lives in water
History for tadpole
A young tadpole, which looks like a large head with a tail, will in time become a toad or a frog. The English word tadpole comes from a Middle English compound word taddepol, made up from tadde, “toad,” and pol, “head.”
Learn More about tadpole
-
See words that rhyme with tadpole Spanish Central: Translation of tadpole Nglish: Translation of tadpole for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of tadpole for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about tadpole
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up tadpole? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!