polyp

[ pol-ip ]

/ ˈpɒl ɪp /

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noun

Zoology.

a sedentary type of animal form characterized by a more or less fixed base, columnar body, and free end with mouth and tentacles, especially as applied to coelenterates.
an individual zooid of a compound or colonial organism.

Pathology. a projecting growth from a mucous surface, as of the nose, being either a tumor or a hypertrophy of the mucous membrane.

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Origin of polyp

1350–1400; Middle English polip, short for polipus nasal tumor (later, also cephalopod, now obsolete) <Medieval Latin, Latin pōlypus<dialectal Greek poulýpous octopus, nasal tumor (Attic polýpous, genitive polýpodos;see poly-, -pod)

OTHER WORDS FROM polyp

pol·yp·ous, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use polyp in a sentence

LATimes Report: Jon Hamm to undergo throat surgery for vocal cord polyps.
Emmy Awards Score Ratings High, Jon Hamm May Undergo Surgery|Culture Team|September 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Follow-up colonoscopies three years hence determined the presence or absence of polyps.
Can Taking Aspirin Once a Day Reduce Risk of Cancer, Stroke, and More?|Anneli Rufus|March 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Regular aspirin use reduces the risk of colon polyps by 19 percent.
Can Taking Aspirin Once a Day Reduce Risk of Cancer, Stroke, and More?|Anneli Rufus|March 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Known as polyps or adenomas, benign tumors in the colon have the potential to become cancerous.
Can Taking Aspirin Once a Day Reduce Risk of Cancer, Stroke, and More?|Anneli Rufus|March 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The rainbow of life in a coral reef is founded on the partnership between polyps and algae.
Here on Earth, The Forgotten Founding Father, and Other Reviews|The Daily Beast|April 30, 2011|DAILY BEAST
We find exquisitely delicate structures, some inhabited by simple hydra-like polyps, others by more organised kinds.
The Land of Fire|Mayne Reid
He recognised the Keimfleck in the ova of many classes of animals from mammals to polyps.
Form and Function|E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
Most of the polyps form stocks (cormi), the individuals shooting out buds which remain joined to the mother animal.
The Wonders of Life|Ernst Haeckel
Three kinds of zoids, polyps, or hydranthsas they are indiscriminately calledare attached to the stem.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide|Augusta Foote Arnold
Self-cleavage is also found among the higher multicellular organisms—namely, the cnidaria (polyps, medus).
The Wonders of Life|Ernst Haeckel

British Dictionary definitions for polyp

polyp

/ (ˈpɒlɪp) /

noun

zoology one of the two forms of individual that occur in coelenterates. It usually has a hollow cylindrical body with a ring of tentacles around the mouthCompare medusa (def. 2)

Also called: polypus pathol a small vascularized growth arising from the surface of a mucous membrane, having a rounded base or a stalklike projection

Derived forms of polyp

polypous, adjective

Word Origin for polyp

C16 polip, from French polype nasal polyp, from Latin pōlypus sea animal, nasal polyp, from Greek polupous having many feet

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

Scientific definitions for polyp

polyp

[ pŏl′ĭp ]

A cnidarian in its sedentary stage. Polyps have hollow, tube-shaped bodies with a central mouth on top surrounded by tentacles. Some cnidarians, such as corals and sea anemones, only exist as polyps after their larval stage, while others turn into medusas as adults or lack a polyp stage completely. Compare medusa.

An abnormal growth extending from a mucous membrane, as of the intestine.

polyp

Origin of polyp

OTHER WORDS FROM polyp

Words related to polyp

How to use polyp in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for polyp

Derived forms of polyp

Word Origin for polyp

Scientific definitions for polyp