fire-bellied toad
- noun
:
sapo de vientre de fuego
- The European fire-bellied toad is easily recognized by the bright orange patches on its stomach.
- European fire-bellied toad
Examples
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In large, permanent bodies of water in the lowlands of Eastern Europe, for example, lives Bombina bombina, the European fire-bellied toad, so called because of the red splotches on its belly.
Academic text (2002) -
In Eastern Europe, the fire-bellied toad is often found in ponds, where it breeds during the spring.
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The zone between the European fire-bellied toad and the yellow-bellied toad, for example, follows a tortuous 3,000-mile route from eastern Germany to the Black Sea.
Academic text (2002) -
The yellow-bellied toad, left, and the European fire-bellied toad, right, hybridize over a 3,000-mile-long, 6-mile-wide area in central Europe.
Academic text (2002) -
The deep bass voices of marsh and edible frogs developed the tone of the amphibian choir, while fire-bellied toads added their bonging, bell-like melody.
Fiction book (1990) -
Children learned about the distinctive features of the fire-bellied toad during their field trip to the wetland.
Synonyms
A toad from central and eastern Europe with bright red or orange and black patches on its belly
A small bright-coloured toad with a red or orange belly found in Europe and Asia
Surface Forms
Morphology
fire-bellied + toad
The compound 'fire-bellied toad' is transparently built from 'fire' (suggesting fiery/red/orange color) + 'bellied' (having a belly) + 'toad' (the animal), so a learner who knows these constituents can infer it is a toad with a brightly colored/red/orange belly. This is a productive, descriptive compound pattern (cf. 'red-bellied') and is cross-linguistically common, making the meaning predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
The name fire-bellied toad comes from the toad's bright red or orange belly that looks like fire, so the word bellied simply points to its belly. The toad often shows this bright belly to warn other animals, especially 'predators', so the name links the 'fiery' look to a 'warning'.
