OCTOPUS • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Octopus

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/ˈɑktəpˌʊs/ Listen

noun

Octopus n.

(Zool.) A genus of eight-armed cephalopods, including numerous species, some of them of large size. See Devilfish.

(Zool.) Any member of the genus Octopus.

(Fig.) Something resembling an octopus in having numerous controlling arms or branches that reach widely and influence many activities; used mostly of organizations, such as diversified corporations.

See images of 'Octopus'

Etymology of 'Octopus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Octopus" Quotes from Famous Books

... octopus of the air clutched them in its corpse-like grip, breathing its wet vapoury breath into their faces, soddening their clothes with heavy moisture and slackening their energies as it had already damped their hopes of a steam-vessel coming to the rescue, Bob, whose nerves were strained ...

— Bob Strong's Holidays - Adrift in the Channel • John Conroy Hutcheson

... inspector stood firm. The old gentleman, in a fine burst of passion, tossed the razors into the water. Then they were going to arrest him for smuggling. A friend extricated him. The old gentleman went away, saying something about the tariff and an unreasonably warm place which has as many synonyms as an octopus ...

— The Man on the Box • Harold MacGrath

... the octopus a devil-fish," said Mr. Choate. "This is all wrong. They are both large and vicious creatures, but entirely different in looks. The devil-fish belongs to the ray family, and, as you see, is a huge bat-like creature which uses its body fins with a waving, undulating motion, ...

— Around the World in Ten Days • Chelsea Curtis Fraser

... is a machine!" said young Denton. "He is simply a human octopus for pulling in money. Not that I object to money," he added, with a laugh, "but I hate to see men make it ...

— For Gold or Soul? - The Story of a Great Department Store • Lurana W. Sheldon

... rays of the setting sun which proved to be those of Mrs. Glass and her daughter Mrs. Lavarello. We did not succeed in catching anything, but Mrs. Lavarello gave us her catch of three crawfish and two small fish. She caught an octopus, which they call cat-fish, horrid-looking creatures:—how she could handle them ...

— Three Years in Tristan da Cunha • K. M. Barrow

More quotes...