‖ octopus
(ˈɒktəpəs, ɒkˈtəʊpəs)
Pl. octopodes (ɒkˈtəʊpədiːz), anglicized octopuses.
[mod.L. octōpus, a. Gr. ὀκτώπους, acc. ὀκτώποδ-α eight-footed, f. ὀκτώ eight + πούς, πόδ- foot.]
A genus of cephalopod molluscs, characterized by eight ‘arms’ surrounding the mouth and provided with suckers; an individual of this genus (esp. one of the larger and more formidable species).
| 1758 Baker in Phil. Trans. L. 778 The Polypus, particularly so called, the Octopus, Preke, or Pour-contrel. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. x. 308 The body of the octopus is small, it has legs sometimes a foot and a half in length, with about two hundred and forty suckers on each leg. 1880 Browning Pietro of Abano 401 Help! The old magician clings like an octopus! 1884 H. M. Leathes Rough Notes Nat. Hist. 46 Saying that enormous octopuses existed on the western side of Panama, in the Pacific Ocean. |
b. fig.; usually applied to an organized power having extended ramifications and far-reaching influence, esp. harmful or destructive.
| 1882 Greg Misc. Ess. ii. 37 We are the very octopus of nations. 1893 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 25 Mar. 2/1 The electric octopus. Formal organization of the New England Street Railway Company. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 12 Mar. 2/1 He was an administrative octopus, a cormorant of toil. |
c. attrib. and Comb.
| 1880 G. Meredith Tragic Com. (1881) 206 Then they laid octopus-limbs on her. 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 460/1 An octopus power sought to tear the human limpet from its clinging place. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases i. 9 A strange-looking octopus-like creature. |