spring peeper

noun

1. a tree frog, Hyla crucifer, having an X -shaped mark on the back and voicing a shrill call commonly heard near ponds and swamps of eastern North America in the early spring.

Word History and Origins

Origin of spring peeper¹

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Example Sentences

I spent much of my final college semester lugging around a parabolic microphone to record the mating calls of spring peeper frogs.

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Amanda West’s favorite sound is the chorus created by spring peeper frogs.

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Indeed, like several of our smaller native reptiles and amphibians, the spring peeper can survive a partial freeze.

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Though the spring peeper is a tree frog, it prefers to lie low, clambering up shrubs and vegetation in the forest’s undergrowth.

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Locally, the very early breeding spring peeper and the gray tree frog are abundant examples of this success.

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