octopus

[ok-tuh-puhs]

noun

plural

octopuses, octopi 

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

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

octopus

/ ˈɒktəpəs /

noun

1. 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)

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

3. another name for spider

Word History and Origins

Origin of octopus¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of octopus¹

C18: via New Latin from Greek oktōpous having eight feet

Example Sentences

It’s also highly intelligent and fast, propelling itself via slick tentacles like a bloody octopus.

From Salon

Bursting forth, for me at least, are birds of paradise, galaxies, floating stairways, even an octopus.

From Los Angeles Times

A beloved octopus is entering the last stage of her life in Long Beach,and will spend the remainder of her days caring for eggs that will never hatch.

From Los Angeles Times

The president claims the CHP is "mired in corruption" with a network like "an octopus whose arms stretch to other parts of Turkey and abroad".

From BBC

In recognition of the need for novel scares, the TV series offers a little tentacled eyeball monster, shaped and smart like an octopus, that zombifies its hosts.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• business 
• company 
• enterprise