polliwog

American  

[pol-ee-wog] / ˈpɒl iˌwɒg /

Or pollywog

noun

1. a tadpole.

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polliwog British  

/ ˈpɒlɪˌwɒɡ /

noun

1. dialect another name for tadpole

2. informal a sailor who has not crossed the equator Compare shellback

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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

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

Ancestors of the newt, the polliwog, the lizard and the water snake.

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

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

My words are thrown away; And not a second in one place A polliwog will stay.

From The Nursery, May 1877, Vol. XXI. No. 5 A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers by Various

Related Words

• toad