polliwog

or pol·ly·wog

[ pol-ee-wog ]
/ ˈpɒl iˌwɒg /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR polliwog ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a tadpole.

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Origin of polliwog

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

Words nearby polliwog

pollini-, polliniferous, pollinium, pollinize, pollinosis, polliwog, pollo, pollock, pollock, jackson, pollster, polltaker
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to polliwog

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

Example sentences from the Web for polliwog

  • 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

  • Old forms of polliwog are pollywig, polewiggle, and 242 pollwiggle.

    The Log of the Sun|William Beebe

  • The chatter of society has succeeded that of the goose and the polliwog.

    'Charge It'|Irving Bacheller

British Dictionary definitions for polliwog

polliwog

pollywog

/ (ˈpɒlɪˌwɒɡ) /

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