tadpole
noun
tad·pole
| \ ˈtad-ˌpōl
\
\
Definition of tadpole
: a larval amphibian
specifically
: a frog or toad larva that has a rounded body with a long tail bordered by fins and external gills soon replaced by internal gills and that undergoes a metamorphosis to the adult
Illustration of tadpole
tadpole in stages
Examples of tadpole in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Related Stories Rossi and McNamara's team studied 10 million-year-old frog and tadpole fossils and the almost 50-million year-old fossils of a marine reptile and prehistoric bat using trace element chemistry. — Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Learned How to Reconstruct Long-Extinct Animals," 20 Aug. 2019 This marks the second year tadpoles reared at the zoo have been released into the Angeles National Forest. — Los Angeles Times, "Meet the ‘rock star’ frog breeder vying to save Southern California’s rarest amphibian," 15 Aug. 2019 But for a plant, its diet is impressive: seed shrimp, shell-less crustaceans, insect larvae, and occasionally even tadpoles and small fish. — Marion Renault, New York Times, "This Carnivorous Plant Invaded New York. That May Be Its Only Hope.," 13 Aug. 2019 These tadpoles grew from Boreal toad eggs that CPW collected from the Cottonwood Creek drainage earlier this month. — Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post, "PHOTOS: Highly endangered high alpine Boreal Toads reintroduced in Colorado," 13 July 2019 The team hiked to the sites several times a week, trying to catch glimpses of the elusive tadpoles. — Joe Dworetzky, Los Angeles Times, "The threatened frogs of the Santa Monica Mountains always had it hard. The Woolsey fire made things much worse," 25 July 2019 After hatching from an egg and developing into an aquatic creature, the larvae use a spoonlike lower lip to capture small fish, tadpoles and other insects. — Anchorage Daily News, "The dragonfly, Alaska’s state insect, is a nimble flying machine," 20 July 2019 The toads and tadpoles are also easy prey due to their small stature. — Zekriah Chaudhry, Twin Cities, "Como Zoo tries to bring rare toad species back to the wild," 5 July 2019 These boreal toad tadpoles, however, have a chance. — Bruce Finley, The Denver Post, "Battle to save Colorado high-country toads goes microbial with ground-breaking Purple Rain treatment," 13 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tadpole.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for tadpole
tadpole
noun
English Language Learners Definition of tadpole
: a small creature that becomes an adult frog or toad, that has a rounded body and a long tail, and that lives in water
See the full definition for tadpole in the English Language Learners Dictionary
tadpole
noun
tad·pole
| \ ˈtad-ˌpōl
\
\
Kids Definition of tadpole
: the larva of a frog or toad that has a long tail, breathes with gills, and lives in water
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