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arthropod

American  
[ahr-thruh-pod] / ˈɑr θrəˌpɒd /

noun

  1. any invertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, having a segmented body, jointed limbs, and usually a chitinous shell that undergoes moltings, including the insects, spiders and other arachnids, crustaceans, and myriapods.

adjective

  1. Also arthropodal arthropodan arthropodous belonging or pertaining to the Arthropoda.

arthropod British  
/ ˈɑːθrəˌpɒd, ɑːˈθrɒpədəs /

noun

  1. any invertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, having jointed limbs, a segmented body, and an exoskeleton made of chitin. The group includes the crustaceans, insects, arachnids, and centipedes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
arthropod Scientific  
/ är′thrə-pŏd′ /

  1. Any of numerous invertebrate animals of the phylum Arthopoda, characterized by an exoskeleton made of chitin and a segmented body with pairs of jointed appendages. Arthropods share many features with annelids and may have evolved from them in the Precambrian Era. Arthropods include the insects, crustaceans, arachnids, myriapods, and extinct trilobites, and are the largest phylum in the animal kingdom.

Other Word Forms

  • arthropodous adjective

Etymology

Origin of arthropod

1875–80; < New Latin Arthropoda; arthro-, -pod

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.

"Claws are never in that location in a Cambrian arthropod," said Lerosey-Aubril, "It took me a few minutes to realize the obvious, I had just exposed the oldest chelicera ever found."

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

Her manner of speech is otherworldly, like an arthropod testing out human vocal folds.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025

Thought to live only in the limestone caves of that region, the colorful arthropod defends itself by producing cyanide.

From National Geographic • Feb. 7, 2024

This means that they likely evolved their visual defenses in response to arthropod predators, like arachnids.

From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2023

One transformation involves a change of intermediate vector: when a microbe relying on some arthropod vector for transmission switches to a new host, the microbe may be forced to find a new arthropod as well.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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.