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platypus

platypus

15 5.8
A small Australian mammal that lays eggs and has a duck-like bill, webbed feet, and a flat tail
  • noun
  • /ˈplætɪpəs/
  • Australian
translation icon : ornitorrinco
  • Temperate regions are also good places to find frogs, platypus, and crayfish.
  • duck-billed platypus
  • platypus eggs
  • platypus and echidnas

Oh, Agent P, What is the platypus?

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Examples

  • Not only were there more koala bears than they could have imagined, there were dingos, kookaburras, kangaroos, and even a platypus.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • But the bill of the platypus, far from being an evolutionary bad joke, is a masterpiece.

    Blog text (3)
  • Did you know there's a platypus on our 20 cent piece?

  • I feel like a duck-billed platypus.

  • You offer a platypus as an example of a thing that's hard to classify.

    Blog text (30)
  • Well, a new report has found that platypus fur glows green under UV light, which is going to make for a super messed up scene on CSI Brisbane.

  • Mammary glands eventually secrete the milk through the breasts, utters, or, in the rare case of the platypus, through ducts in the abdomen.

  • The modern representatives of this group, the platypus and the echidna, still manifest their ancient heritage: they lay eggs rather than bearing live young, and have a low, fluctuating body temperature, traits left over from mammals' reptilian ancestors.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The platypus is a unique animal known for its duck-like bill and webbed feet.

  • In Australia, you might see a platypus swimming in rivers and streams.

Synonyms

duck-billed platypus
vsplatypus
  • Australian
1 7.2

A mammal from Australia that lays eggs and has a duck-like bill and webbed feet

is the same name written without a hyphen
duckbill
vsplatypus
  • Australian
1 7.3

A small egg-laying mammal with a broad bill and webbed feet

is the full descriptive term rather than a casual nickname
duckbilled platypus
vsplatypus
  • Australian
6.5

A small Australian mammal with thick fur, webbed feet, and a broad flat bill that lays eggs

is the same name written with a hyphen
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
vsplatypus
  • Australian
9.9

A small furry water animal in Australia and Tasmania with a broad duck-like bill and webbed feet

is the everyday descriptive term used in speech

Compounds

1 7.2

A mammal from Australia that lays eggs and has a duck-like bill and webbed feet

duckbilled platypus
  • Australian
6.5

A small Australian mammal with thick fur, webbed feet, and a broad flat bill that lays eggs

Surface Forms

platypus singular
platypuses plural

Etymology

The word platypus comes from Greek parts platy- meaning 'broad' or 'flat' and -pus meaning 'foot', so the name literally means 'flat-foot'. A helpful way to remember this is that the animal has wide, webbed feet and a flat tail for swimming, which explains the name.