octopus

[ ok-tuh-puhs ]

/ ˈɒk tə pəs /

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See synonyms for octopus on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural oc·to·pus·es, oc·to·pi

[ok-tuh-pahy]. /ˈɒk təˌpaɪ/.

any octopod of the genus Octopus, having a soft, oval body and eight sucker-bearing arms, living mostly at the bottom of the sea.

something likened to an octopus, as an organization with many forms of far-reaching influence or control.

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Origin of octopus

1750–60; <New Latin <Greek oktṓpous (plural oktṓpodes) eight-footed; see octo-, -pod

Words nearby octopus

octogenarian, octomerous, octometer, octonary, octopod, octopus, octoroon, octosyllabic, octosyllable, octroi, octuple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use octopus in a sentence

She probes and flexes her stylets under the skin to find these blood vessels, like the arms of an octopus reaching into the dark to carry out a dangerous deed.
Evolution made mosquitos into stealthy, sensitive vampires|Erica McAlister|October 15, 2020|Popular-Science
After the sea pigs, a scattering of octopuses came into view.
Whales get a second life as deep-sea buffets|Stephen Ornes|October 15, 2020|Science News For Students
While exploring a kelp forest, he discovers a female octopus and makes a commitment to go see her every day for a year to learn about her life and to see if she will befriend him.
Everything Our Editors Loved in September|The Editors|October 8, 2020|Outside Online
What ensues is an incredibly beautiful film about the ecosystem of the kelp forest, the intelligence and amazing abilities of the octopus, and a man’s poignant relationship with a wild creature.
Everything Our Editors Loved in September|The Editors|October 8, 2020|Outside Online

Other bacteria from this group make TTX in pufferfish, the blue-ringed octopus and sea snails.
Toxic germs on its skin make this newt deadly|Erin Garcia de Jesus|June 23, 2020|Science News For Students
Sadly, Paul the Octopus did not outlive his impressive but unpopular World Cup predictions by long.
The Amazing Tale of Paul the Psychic Octopus: Germany’s World Cup Soothsayer|Emily Shire|July 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's at a time like this that Germans yearn most for Paul the Octopus, the great mollusk soothsayer for Germany.
The Amazing Tale of Paul the Psychic Octopus: Germany’s World Cup Soothsayer|Emily Shire|July 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Oberhausen aquarium erected a memorial of the psychic octopus with a golden urn containing his ashes.
The Amazing Tale of Paul the Psychic Octopus: Germany’s World Cup Soothsayer|Emily Shire|July 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Octopus is one of those sleazy and boorish Americans whose instincts prove correct.
This 1979 Novel Predicted Putin’s Invasion Of Crimea|Michael Weiss|May 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They are the Tarpon, the Falcon, the Sea Fox, and the Octopus.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Both Giddiness and the Ice-Maiden seize a man as an octopus seizes all within its reach.
Rudy and Babette|Hans Christian Andersen
But hapless flight: the Boodah is an octopus whose feelers reach far, and they, within her toils, cannot escape her omnipresence.
The Lord of the Sea|M. P. Shiel
From the deeper trawling were obtained a large octopus and several interesting fish.
The Home of the Blizzard|Douglas Mawson
These animals belong to the same division—the Cephalopoda—as the cuttle-fish, the squid, and the octopus.
On the Method of Zadig|Thomas Henry Huxley
A darker, livid hue passed fleetingly over the pallid body of the octopus.
Kings in Exile|Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for octopus

octopus

/ (ˈɒktəpəs) /

noun plural -puses

any cephalopod mollusc of the genera Octopus, Eledone, etc, having a soft oval body with eight long suckered tentacles and occurring at the sea bottom: order Octopoda (octopods)

a powerful influential organization with far-reaching effects, esp harmful ones

another name for spider (def. 8)

Word Origin for octopus

C18: via New Latin from Greek oktōpous having eight feet

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

octopus

Origin of octopus

Words nearby octopus

Words related to octopus

How to use octopus in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for octopus

Word Origin for octopus