tadpole
Americannoun
-
tadpoles
plural
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.
See Examples For:
"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
Finally, other animal species, including other mollusks, the common earthworm and even the tadpole stages of frogs, also possess a typhlosole that has not been thoroughly studied before.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024
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
Pilar slipped out like a tadpole, dark, hairless, and eager for light.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
That's not what we would expect to see in amphibians, whose metamorphosis from tadpoles into adults includes much more dramatic rearranging and development of organs and limbs.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
In another tank, tadpoles are swirling around using simple swimming motions.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2024
A snapshot of wriggling toad tadpoles has earned Shane Gross the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2024
At another point, McNeish stopped at a dry depression and poked her yardstick into tangled aquatic plants, finding dead tadpoles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2024
Thousands of black tadpoles scattered before him as he clambered through the shallows.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
