amphibious

American  

[am-fib-ee-uhs] / æmˈfɪb i əs /

adjective

1. living or able to live both on land and in water; belonging to both land and water.

2. Also capable of operating on both land and water.

   amphibious vehicles.

3. of or relating to military operations by both land and naval forces against the same object, especially to a military attack by troops landed by naval ships.

4. trained or organized to fight, or fighting, on both land and sea.

   amphibious troops.

5. combining two qualities, kinds, traits, etc.; of or having a mixed or twofold nature.

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amphibious British  

/ æmˈfɪbɪəs /

adjective

1. able to live both on land and in the water, as frogs, toads, etc

2. designed for operation on or from both water and land

3. relating to military forces and equipment organized for operations launched from the sea against an enemy shore

4. having a dual or mixed nature

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Other Word Forms

• amphibiously
  adverb
• amphibiousness
  noun
• nonamphibious
  adjective
• nonamphibiously
  adverb
• nonamphibiousness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of amphibious

First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin amphibius, from Greek amphíbios “living a double life”; see amphi-, bio-, -ous

Explanation

If you can drive your car down the highway and then go off road and ford a few rivers, too, you've got an amphibious vehicle — something that works on land and in the water, too. Amphibious also describes animals that can live on land or in the water — like frogs and toads — and comes from the Greek roots amphi "both" and bios "life." Military operations where both your army and your navy are involved — one attacking by land and the other by sea — are called amphibious assaults or amphibious operations.

Example Sentences

Marines from the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli then boarded the Touska by helicopter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

Seizing Kharg Island and the islands near the mainland would require an amphibious landing on a contested shoreline, among “the hardest operations” a military can attempt, and one that Iran is almost certainly prepared for.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026

Still, the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship carrying around 3,500 Marines and sailors, arrived in the Middle East on Friday.

From Barron's • Mar. 29, 2026

That would involve a series of challenging and dangerous amphibious landings.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

He had peered up once and seen three amphibious tractors going up on the beach far ahead.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

Related Words

• floating
• marine
• maritime