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polliwog

or pol·ly·wog

[ pol-ee-wog ]
/ ˈpɒl iˌwɒg /
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See synonyms for polliwog on Thesaurus.com
noun
a tadpole.
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Origin of polliwog

First recorded in 1400–50; variant of polliwig, earlier polwigge, late Middle English polwygle; see origin at poll1, wiggle

Words nearby polliwog

pollini-, polliniferous, pollinium, pollinize, pollinosis, polliwog, pollo, pollock, Pollock, Jackson, poll parrot, pollster
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to polliwog

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

How to use polliwog in a sentence

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
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