octopus
octopus — noun
1. a sea animal whose soft, rounded body has eight long, bendy arms covered in smal
a sea animal whose soft, rounded body has eight long, bendy arms covered in small suckers, often used to grip rocks or prey.
A small octopus hid between the rocks at the bottom of the tank.
typical habitat: hiding place collocation
Mei watched an octopus change colour to match the sandy seabed.
common verb collocation: change colour
Scientists in Naples taught an octopus to open a jar to reach a crab inside.
The diver felt eight strong arms wrap around his hand as the octopus pulled him closer.
Octopuses can squeeze through any gap bigger than their hard beak.
- cephalopod
scientific term covering octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish
用法筆記
Plural is usually 'octopuses'; 'octopi' is also seen but treated as non-standard by most learner dictionaries. Distinguish from sense 2, which is uncountable and refers to the meat.
常見錯誤
2. the meat of this sea animal, usually boiled, grilled, or served raw on top of ri
the meat of this sea animal, usually boiled, grilled, or served raw on top of rice or salad.
We ordered grilled octopus with lemon at the small taverna in Athens.
common cooking method: grilled octopus
Aunt Hana taught me to slice octopus very thinly for sushi.
uncountable: no article, no plural
The starter was tender octopus served with olive oil and red peppers.
Many street stalls in Osaka sell hot balls of dough filled with chopped octopus.
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense, so no plural and no 'a/an' (compare: 'some octopus', 'a piece of octopus'). Subjects are typically chefs, restaurants, or dishes; objects are cooking verbs like 'grill', 'boil', 'chop'.