tadpole Hear it!

tadpole definition

tad·pole (tad′pōl′)

noun

  1. the larva of certain amphibians, as frogs and toads, having gills and a tail and living in water: as it matures, the gills usually are lost and legs develop
  2. the free-swimming larval stage of tunicates, having gill slits and a notochord

Etymology: ME taddepol < tadde, toad + poll, head, hence, toad that seems all head

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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