Fwd: "octopoid, adj." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

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Subject: "octopoid, adj." - Word of the Day from the OED
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Your word for today is: octopoid, adj.

octopoid, adj.
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈɒktəpɔɪd/,  U.S. /ˈɑktəˌpɔɪd/, /ˈɑkdəˌpɔɪd/
Etymology: <  octopus n. (see note at that entry) + -oid suffix.
Compare slightly earlier octopus adj.
  Esp. in figurative contexts: resembling or suggestive of an octopus,
or the tentacles of an octopus; octopus-like.
1878 Catholic World Oct. 63 A mass of hideous sucker pustules showing
here, an inflating, self-swallowing, turning-inside-out process going
on there, in the indescribable-octopoid? octo-what?-fashion.
1933 Economica No. 42. 457 The chief causes of the large proportion of
overhead costs are:‥ii. The peculiar nature of ‘octopoid’ distributing
plant.
1957 Amer. Econ. Rev. 47 1018 Innes turned from his study of the fur
trade and of the Canadian Pacicific Railway, which also was octopoid
and monopolistic.
1966 Q. Rev. Biol. 41 74/1 It is‥a fascinating account‥, with
[a]‥short review of topics such as growth of nerve terminals and the
logical difficulties of thinking about brains., although sometimes
these discussions are difficult to disentangle from the octopoid
growth.
1998  K. Lette Altar Ego xvi. 145 In the muffled blue light, the
writhing audience looked like an octopoid creature.

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