spring peeper

American  

noun

1. a tree frog, Hyla crucifer, having an X -shaped mark on the back and voicing a shrill call commonly heard near ponds and swamps of eastern North America in the early spring.

---

Etymology

Origin of spring peeper

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

I spent much of my final college semester lugging around a parabolic microphone to record the mating calls of spring peeper frogs.

From National Geographic • Jan. 8, 2021

Indeed, like several of our smaller native reptiles and amphibians, the spring peeper can survive a partial freeze.

From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2015

Though the spring peeper is a tree frog, it prefers to lie low, clambering up shrubs and vegetation in the forest’s undergrowth.

From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2015

And on Sunday you can wave goodbye to the last sunset of winter and say hello to the spring peeper tree frogs during a walk through the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

From New York Times • Mar. 17, 2011