polliwog

or pol·ly·wog

[pol-ee-wog]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR polliwog ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a tadpole.

Origin of polliwog

1400–50; variant of polliwig, earlier polwigge, late Middle English polwygle. See poll¹, wiggle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for polliwog

frog, toad, sycophant, peeper, salientian, anuran, tadpole, bullfrog, croaker, caecilian

Examples from the Web for polliwog

Historical Examples of polliwog

The chatter of society has succeeded that of the goose and the polliwog.
'Charge It'
Irving Bacheller
Old forms of polliwog are pollywig, polewiggle, and 242 pollwiggle.
The Log of the Sun
William Beebe
The result was one of those quick india-rubber scuffles fearful to behold, but delightful to human nature in its polliwog state.
Hans Brinker
Mary Mapes Dodge
The result was one of those quick India-rubber scuffles fearful to behold but delightful to human nature in its polliwog state.
Hans Brinker
Mary Mapes Dodge

British Dictionary definitions for polliwog

polliwog

pollywog

noun

British dialect, US and Canadian another name for tadpole

informal a sailor who has not crossed the equatorCompare shellback

Word Origin for polliwog

C15 polwygle; see poll, wiggle

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

Word Origin and History for polliwog

"tadpole," mid-15c., polwygle, probably from pol "head" (see poll (n.)) + wiglen "to wiggle" (see wiggle (v.)). Modern spelling is 1830s, replacing earlier polwigge.