OCTOPUS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Octopus

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/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.

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Etymology of 'Octopus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Octopus" Quotes from Famous Books

... of all, that was occupied entirely by Improper Fractions; but aside from their table-manners and general behavior, which were shocking, Sara thought they looked even worse than the proper ones. For one of them had two faces, another three feet, and a third one had as many arms as an octopus. Sara positively refused to ...

— The Garden of the Plynck • Karle Wilson Baker

... its blinding glory. The heat of the rays seemed to burn them; there was a prickling pleasantness to it now, as they looked at the mighty sea of flame through smoked glasses. The vast arms of the corona reached out like the tentacles of some fiery octopus through thousands of miles of space—huge arms of flaming gas that writhed out as though to reach and drag back the whirling planets to the parent body. All about the mighty sphere, stretching far into space, a wan glow seemed to ebb and flow, a kaleidoscope of swiftly changing ...

— The Black Star Passes • John W Campbell

... ankles and lapping at calves, thoroughly entangling and impeding progress. Panting and struggling the firemen penetrated only a short way into the mass before they were slowed almost to a standstill. From the sidelines it seemed as though they were wrestling with an invisible octopus. Feet were lifted high, but never free of the twining vegetation; the ladder was pulled angrily forward, but the clutch of the grass upon it became firmer ...

— Greener Than You Think • Ward Moore

... reached him in answer to his shouts, already he was engulfed up to his middle and going down so rapidly that in another minute he would have vanished altogether. Well, we got him out but not with ease, for that mud clung to him like the tentacles of an octopus. After ...

— She and Allan • H. Rider Haggard

... were formed for the first time, only a few years ago, there was a fine burst of disapproval. The corporation was declared a scheme of oppression, a hungry octopus, a grinder of the individual. And to prove the case various instances of hardship were cited; and no doubt there was much suffering, for many people are never able to adjust themselves to new conditions ...

— Love, Life & Work • Elbert Hubbard

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