polyp
Americannoun
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Zoology.
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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.
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an individual zooid of a compound or colonial organism.
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Pathology. a projecting growth from a mucous surface, as of the nose, being either a tumor or a hypertrophy of the mucous membrane.
noun
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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
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Also called: polypus. pathol a small vascularized growth arising from the surface of a mucous membrane, having a rounded base or a stalklike projection
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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.
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Compare medusa
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An abnormal growth extending from a mucous membrane, as of the intestine.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of polyp
1350–1400; Middle English polip, short for polipus nasal tumor (later, also cephalopod, now obsolete) < Medieval Latin, Latin pōlypus < dialectal Greek poulýpous octopus, nasal tumor ( Attic polýpous, genitive polýpodos; see poly-, -pod)
Vocabulary lists containing polyp
Marine Biology - Middle School
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Marine Biology - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He said microscopic amounts of blood in stool can be indicative of a polyp or early cancer.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025
Amy, a lawyer from London, was forced to think about children after finding out she had a polyp in her womb - which could impact her chances of conceiving.
From BBC • Dec. 8, 2024
In fact, during one of her sessions, Nyong’o injured her vocal cords, which forced her to remain silent for three months to avoid surgery for the polyp that had formed on her throat.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2024
In one sequence, marine biologists lovingly restore a rehabbed coral polyp to a reef.
From New York Times • Apr. 21, 2024
“T. nutricula is a jellyfish that can actually revert its body to the polyp stage. To its younger self!”
From "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer L. Holm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
