tardigrade
Americannoun
adjective
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belonging or pertaining to the phylum Tardigrada.
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slow in pace or movement.
noun
adjective
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Any of various slow-moving, minute invertebrates of the phylum Tardigrada. Tardigrades have a head and four fused body segments, each of which has a pair of stubby legs ending in claws. They live in water, damp moss, flower petals, or sand, and are usually 1 mm (0.04 inches) or less in size. Tardigrades are able to resist extremely low temperature, pressure, and humidity, and go into dormant states for months or years. They are believed to be intermediate in evolutionary development between annelids and arthropods.
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Also called water bear
Etymology
Origin of tardigrade
First recorded in 1615–25, tardigrade is from the Latin word tardigradus slow-paced. See tardy, -grade
Vocabulary lists containing tardigrade
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.
It would require even more energy to remove the Earth's atmosphere, and you'd also need more radiation to kill a tardigrade hiding deep enough under the sea.
From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2025
Importantly, the research shows that the whole process is reversible: "When the stress is relieved, the tardigrade gels dissolve, and the human cells return to their normal metabolism," Boothby says.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 26, 2024
At the time the video was recorded, the Trump and American flags flanked the silhouette of the tardigrade with the words, “Live Tiny, Die Never” and a series of initials.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
Takekazu Kunieda and his colleagues at the University of Tokyo discovered that a specific protein in the tardigrade helps in this protective role.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 3, 2018
The assistant's head bobbed violently, and now Beethoven led Anne-Marie's bow, gently, by tardigrade steps, into the first melody again.
From The Devourers by Chartres, Annie Vivanti
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.
