First recorded in 1605–15; origin uncertain
First recorded in 1965–70
A squid is a sea creature that's similar to an octopus but has ten arms instead of eight—including two extra tentacles they use for grabbing their prey. The largest squid ever found was nearly 60 feet long! Like their octopus relatives, squid are cephalopods, or mollusks with prominent heads and many arms. Squid can swim extremely fast by sucking in water and propelling it out (just like jet propulsion), and their skin can change color so they blend in with their surroundings. Squid squirt a kind of dark ink to confuse predators; some language experts believe that squid was once sailors' slang for squirt.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Blue sharks can reach more than three metres in length and feed in open water on fish, squid, smaller sharks and sea birds.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Previous strong El Niños have also brought a lower abundance, and a more northward shift, of market squid, Leising said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026
Giant squid are among the ocean's most mysterious animals.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
For decades, palaeontologists believed that the largest ocean predators were vertebrates with backbones such as fish and reptiles while invertebrates like octopuses and squid played supporting roles.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
BaiMa, still a dragon horse, his mane and mustache floating like the tentacles of a squid, walked on a road of white sand.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
At its core lies a sensitive magnetometer, known as a SQUID.
From Economist ● Jan. 11, 2018
That would create a magnetic field large enough to spot with a SQUID.
From Economist ● Jan. 26, 2017
What is used is a sensor called a SQUID, for superconducting quantum interference device.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
I’d love to see Alcock’s heroine in a grotty, silly “Animal House”-style comedy, out-drinking a galaxy of alien squids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The Natural History Museum has suggested it is hard to estimate the global population of colossal squids.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2025
They encountered an immense flurry of different salps that were doing their nightly migration to the surface -- and many photobombing sharks, squids and crustaceans, Sutherland noted.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
It’s possible the creatures were giant squids, or pinnipeds, like seals or sea lions.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 28, 2023
Elsewhere they saw beautiful bronze daggers for sale, dried squids and carved onyx, a potent magical elixir made of virgin's milk and shade of the evening, even dragon's eggs which looked suspiciously like painted rocks.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
