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

In February, in one of my last professional outings before the pandemic shutdown, I was in Maryland listening to emerging tree frogs, spring peepers, filling the air with a wall of croaking sound.

From Washington Post