octopus

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Any of several marine molluscs of the order Octopoda, having no internal or external…

   Any of several marine molluscs of the order Octopoda, having no internal or external protective shell or bone (unlike the nautilus, squid and cuttlefish) and eight arms each covered with suckers.

   • Even octopuses without stylets almost certainly retain the molecular machinery necessary to build them.
2. 2

   A mollusc from genus Octopus.

3. 3

   The flesh of these marine molluscs eaten as food.

4. ›+ 9 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      An organization that has many powerful branches controlled from the centre.

   2. 5

      An instance of a player scoring a touchdown immediately followed by a successful…

      An instance of a player scoring a touchdown immediately followed by a successful two-point conversion, resulting in a total score of eight points.

   3. 6

      A safety device allowing divers to share an air supply in an emergency.

   4. 7

      To put (or attempt to put) one's fingers, hands or arms in many things or places at…

      To put (or attempt to put) one's fingers, hands or arms in many things or places at roughly the same time.

      • He rises up on his wasted legs, the healer's hands octopussed on his head.
      • A skinny, sauced-looking gent in shorts and baseball cap wandered in through the door, his arms octopussing no less than three pre-teen girls.
      • I took off my shirt, standing in swim trunks, embarrassed of my tour body, my hands octopussing around the ashamed drink tickets of my gut.
   5. 8

      To spread out in long arms or legs in many directions.

      • The bug-eyed press octopussed to their respective word processors.
      • Dirt roads octopussed into the interior, where there were more dried mud and shrivelled crops.
      • He had attached three more on so now there were seven legs octopussing out from underneath the chair.
   6. 9

      To plug a large number of devices into a single electric outlet.

      • If they're all for a single indoor tree, caution against "octopusing" of cords from other cords, and the use of a number of cords in a single receptacle.
      • By now, the reservation had electricity so THAT had to be octopussed out to the trailers too.
      • The three electrical outlets I could see—though located six feet above the ground, beyond all their little reaches—were octopussed with what looked like more plugs than the circuits could handle.
   7. 10

      To grow in use vastly beyond what was originally intended.

      • The busy man will do two things at once in his office; and with a little forethought he can practise what psychologist Freeman calls "brain octopussing" at home, too.
      • The course of study should be rooted in a survey of the needs of the community and not "octopussed" from swivel chair courses of study prepared for other areas.
   8. 11

      To hunt and catch octopuses.

      • The sport could be called octopusing or octopus hunting— and any number may play. Supposing you catch an octopus, what do you have?
      • CRABBING AND OCTOPUSSING: Use the same method whether you skindive for crabs and octopi or gather them intertidally.
      • The municipal council assigned food quotas to each section and family contributions within sections. People spent the days before the visit fishing, octopusing, digging taro, cooking, and cleaning public spaces.
   9. 12

      To behave like an octopus.

      • Night fell especially dark and cold for August, inky blackness tendrilling in, octopussing even the street lamps, now dim with vague form.
      • “Strangled in the middle of the night by one of Molly's eight legs.” “Mo-om!” Molly kicked Robin in the shins. “Owww!” Robin lunged against the door. “I've been octopused!”

The neighborhood

• synonympolypus
• neighbor🐙
• neighborcalamari
• neighborcuttlefish
• neighborKraken
• neighbornautilus
• neighborsquid