tadpole
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tadpole
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English tad(de)pol, equivalent to tad(de) “toad” + pol “head”; toad, poll 1
Explanation
A tadpole is basically a baby frog — it's the larval form of this aquatic animal. Tadpoles are tiny round creatures with long tails and gills for breathing underwater. One of many amazing things about frogs and toads is the transformation they go through during their life cycle. Tadpoles, also called pollywogs, look like tiny fish. During metamorphosis, their gills become lungs, they grow legs, and their tails are absorbed into their bodies. Adult frogs have little resemblance to the tadpoles they once were. Tadpole comes from roots meaning "toad" and "head."
Vocabulary lists containing tadpole
Animals (Zoology) - Introductory
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Animals (Zoology) - Middle School
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Animals (Zoology) - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"This detailed work on a bunch of simply glorious fossils nails it that they went straight into a juvenile phase so didn't need to go through the tadpole stage."
From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026
"This image swirls with light, energy and a feeling of synchronised movement between the lilies and the tadpole tails," said Kathy Moran, Jury Chair and Editor.
From BBC • Oct. 8, 2024
In addition, certain character traits are already present in this species at the tadpole stage.
From Science Daily • Nov. 9, 2023
Scientists have compiled many more nematode connectomes, as well as brain maps of a marine annelid worm, a tadpole, a maggot and an adult fruit fly.
From Scientific American • Aug. 21, 2023
Then the black notebook came out of his desk, and he showed me three separate sketches of a kind of frog—except with a long tail as though a part of it had stayed a tadpole.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
