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Glite Dictionary
frogspawn

frogspawn

1 4.0
A mass of jelly eggs laid by frogs that floats in water
  • noun
  • /ˈfrɔɡˌspɔn/
: huevas de rana
  • The teacher explained how frogspawn develops into tadpoles in suitable water conditions.

Examples

  • In spring, we often see frogspawn floating in the pond after heavy rains.

  • However, the appearance of Q-space as recorded by Probe's cameras was an ocean of gray frogspawn.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water

    Blog text (7)

  • No stars, just endless dimensionless frogspawn.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • - I keep having a recurring dream that I'm naked and there's a queue out the door and everyone's got 50 pound note, but in the till instead of change there's only frogspawn.

    It Never Sleeps (2014)

  • More bubble than tea, this is a drink, and its most famous variety includes chewy "pearls," resembling oversized frogspawn, at the bottom that you suck up with an oversized straw.

    Blog text (17)

  • During our nature walk, we spotted clusters of frogspawn clinging to the water plants.

Synonyms

spawn
vsfrogspawn
10 5.3

A mass of eggs that fish, frogs, or snails lay in water

is narrower, referring to one amphibian's jelly like eggs that usually float

Surface Forms

frogspawn singular
frogspawns plural

Morphology

frogspawn = frog + spawn (transparent) = frog + spawn

Clear compound of 'frog' + 'spawn' meaning the eggs produced by frogs; the meaning is directly derivable from its parts.

Etymology

The word frogspawn is made of frog + spawn, and spawn means 'eggs' or 'young' laid in water. So frogspawn is the jelly mass of frog 'eggs' you see floating in ponds.