polliwog
2
8.6
- noun
- /ˈpɑːlɪˌwɔɡ/
- US
:
renacuajo
- The children watched the tiny polliwogs swim in the pond during their nature walk.
- frogs and polliwogs
- Catching polliwogs
Examples
-
The deeper sections pooled before evaporating, and crawdads, little black-shelled snails, and late polliwogs gathered there in a living gumbo.
Fiction book (1998) -
There must have been fifty out there now, not including polliwogs.
Fiction book (1998) -
Located across from Polliwog Park, you can hear the summer concerts in the park from your own home.
Blog text (19) -
You see, you concentrate on a polliwog-
-
You want a polliwog?
-
We'll just drain the polliwogs out and save the grog.
-
Shilo even caught two polliwogs for her and threw them in.
Fiction book (1998) -
He's a polliwog
-
After a few weeks, the polliwogs began to develop legs and looked more like frogs.
-
We caught several polliwogs in a net and took them home to observe their transformation.
Synonyms
20
1.6
A small water animal with a round body and long tail that grows into a frog or toad
1
9.9
A young water animal that becomes a frog, with a tail and no legs
Surface Forms
Etymology
Polliwog is an old, playful English name for a tadpole, likely made from baby-sounding parts like polly and wog to suggest a small, moving creature. A helpful way to remember it is to picture the little thing 'wiggling' in the water and slowly turning into a frog, which is exactly what the word means.