centipede
Americannoun
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centipedes
plural
noun
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Any of various flattened, wormlike arthropods of the class Chilopoda, whose bodies are divided into many segments, each with one pair of legs. The front legs are modified into venomous pincers used to catch prey.
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Compare millipede
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of centipede
From the Latin word centipeda, dating back to 1595–1605. See centi-, -pede
Compare meaning
How does centipede compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A centipede is a poisonous bug with many tiny legs. If you can bring yourself to look closely at a centipede, you'll see its body is divided into segments, each having one pair of legs. Most people assume that centipedes are insects, but they're actually arthropods, tiny invertebrate animals with exoskeletons and segmented bodies — and a seriously squicky number of legs. The profusion of little legs is what gives the centipede its name; the Latin is centipeda, "many-footed arthropod," from centum, "hundred," and pedis, "foot." Despite their name, centipedes can have anywhere from 30 to over 300 legs.
Vocabulary lists containing centipede
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: cent
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cent (hundred), mill (thousand)
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ped, pod (foot)
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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.
See Examples For:
What is one to make of Emerson’s journal entry “I feel the centipede in me” after visiting Paris’s Jardin des Plantes in 1833?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Machado notes that in arthropods, a group that includes the centipede, maternal care is associated with rough conditions.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
A young woman has spoken of her shock after finding a venomous centipede in her flat.
From BBC ● May 10, 2025
And despite having an elaborate, curling centipede inked on his face and neck, he’s crestfallen that Bailey would let a friend cut off her locks before the big day.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2024
They moved in rhythm, like the legs of centipede but without the actual centipede body.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
For their respective babies, naked mole rats, vultures, centipedes and aye-ayes are as beautiful as any mom is, really, in the eyes of her child.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
"From what I've learned, house centipedes are harmless and actually beneficial because they prey on other household pests," she said.
From BBC ● May 10, 2025
Snakes make up most of the images, but human figures, centipedes, alligators, other animals, and geometric motifs also appear.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 3, 2024
In 2022, for example, CBP found live centipedes concealed inside earphone cases.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2024
Nothing except the roots of the old peach tree...and a whole lot of earthworms and centipedes and insects living in the soil.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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.
