millipede
Americannoun
noun
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Any of various wormlike arthropods of the class Diplopoda, having a long body composed of many narrow segments, most of which have two pairs of legs. Millipedes feed on plants and, unlike centipedes, do not have venomous pincers.
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Compare centipede
Etymology
Origin of millipede
1595–1605; < Latin mīlipeda (Pliny), equivalent to mīli- milli- + -peda, derivative of pēs, stem ped- foot
Compare meaning
How does millipede compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A millipede is a long, worm-like bug with a disturbing number of tiny legs. Some millipedes roll into a tiny ball when they're threatened — and you might roll into a tiny ball if you see one in your bedroom. Eek! Millipedes have many similarities to centipedes. Both are arthropods (not insects, but tiny animals with exoskeletons), and both have segmented bodies. Rather than a centipede's single pair of legs per segment, a millipede has two pairs. In other words, twice as many legs — which explains the name, millipede, with its roots mille, "thousand," and ped, "foot." Unlike centipedes, millipedes aren't poisonous, which doesn't mean you'll be happy to discover a family of millipedes living in your bathroom.
Vocabulary lists containing millipede
Perfect Ten: Dec, Cent, Mille
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Amazing Animals, List 1
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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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.
Daniel Gluesenkamp, president of the California Institute for Biodiversity, who was not involved in the research, points to the Los Angeles Thread Millipede as the perfect example of an unexplored frontier.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 26, 2023
The evidence gathered as part of Operation Millipede is now being used by Operation Tuleta - the latter has already seen more than a dozen people have been arrested.
From BBC • Jul. 29, 2013
Soca has passed the committee a list of 102 client names linked to a more recent inquiry - Operation Millipede - which led to the convictions of four private investigators last year.
From BBC • Jul. 29, 2013
Millipede of the Seas What has at least 25 pairs of legs and can turn on a dime?
From Science Magazine • Dec. 22, 2011
The Millipede, Polydesmus gallicus, has a wider range in Ireland, and is also known from France and the Azores.
From The History of the European Fauna by Scharff, Robert Francis
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.
