polliwog
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of polliwog
First recorded in 1400–50; variant of polliwig, earlier polwigge, late Middle English polwygle; see origin at poll 1, wiggle
Explanation
A polliwog is a baby frog or toad. While as adults they'll have strong back legs that allow them to hop around on land, polliwogs have tails and live in the water. A polliwog is another word for a tadpole, the earliest stage in the life of an amphibian. Polliwogs are aquatic, living entirely in water and propelling themselves with their tiny tails. The process of a polliwog becoming a full-grown frog or toad is called metamorphosis, and it includes the growth of legs and lungs — and the loss of the tail. Even though they sound unrelated, polliwog and tadpole share the root word pol, "head."
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.
Among the masses of fauna, the pigeon occupies a rung on the human scale of fuzzy affection somewhere between a common garden slug and the lesser polliwog.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2021
By comparison, Klete Keller, America's best 400-m man, and no polliwog, swam 3:47.18 last month--a new U.S. record.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Governor General of the Philippine Islands was dealt with as a polliwog, went ashore a short time later to be regaled in the palace of the Dutch Viceroy in Batavia.
From Time Magazine Archive
He envisioned the snug Aircar as every man's airplane, affectionately called it his polliwog.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Good-bye!" wept the brave little polliwog, wriggling with feeling, and groaning some.
From St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. V, August, 1878, No 10. Scribner's Illustrated by Various
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.
