water strider

American  

noun

1. any of several aquatic bugs of the family Gerridae, having long, slender legs fringed with hairs, enabling the insects to dart about on the surface of the water.

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water strider British  

noun

1. another name for a pond-skater

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Etymology

Origin of water strider

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Two insect-like robots, a mini-bug and a water strider, developed at Washington State University, are the smallest, lightest and fastest fully functional micro-robots ever known to be created.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024

In another example, insects such as the water strider, shown in Figure 2.19, use the surface tension of water to stay afloat on the surface layer of water and even mate there.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Water poses an even more complex problem for robots, and here guidance has come from another animal: the insect known as a water strider, which moves exclusively across the surfaces of bodies of water.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 9, 2018

We’ve just started to ask the questions and do the examination so we’re about to get beyond the “a guppy has a personality, or a water strider or spider or crab or bluebird.”

From National Geographic • Jan. 6, 2018

He would build a sort of water strider, a catamaran, and row it.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig