Log in or Sign up
  1. axolotl love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Any of several salamanders (genus Ambystoma) native to Mexico and the western United States that, unlike most amphibians, often retain their external gills and become sexually mature without undergoing metamorphosis.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A urodele or tailed amphibian found in Mexico, which is supposed not to undergo metamorphosis, but to retain its gills throughout life, breeding in the larval state. From this circumstance the animal was made the type of a distinct genus, Siredon, and was placed with Proteus, Siren, etc., in the family Proteidœ, under the name of Siredon pisciforme. Another species has been named Siredon lichenoides. Later observations, however, have shown that the axolotl, or siredon, is simply a prolonged, sometimes permanent, stage like that which all the species of salamandrines of the family Amblystomidœ pass through, and that the animal is referable to the genus Amblystoma. Axolotls are common in lakes and lagoons in Mexico, like the various species of Amblystoma known in the United States as mud-puppies, water-dogs, etc. They have the appearance of gigantic tadpoles about to turn into frogs, being from 6 to 9 inches long, with a large compressed tail, 4 legs, gill-tufts on each side of the neck, and obtuse fiattened head. They are marketable in Mexico, where they are said to be deemed a luxury as an article of food.

Wiktionary

  1. n. An amphibian of the salamander tribe found in the elevated lakes of Mexico, Ambystoma mexicanum.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Zoöl.) An amphibian of the salamander tribe found in the elevated lakes of Mexico; the siredon.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. larval salamander of mountain lakes of Mexico that usually lives without metamorphosing

Etymologies

  1. From Nahuatl axolotl. (Wiktionary)
  2. Nahuatl. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “But this eye is by no means as developed as the organ of vision, for instance, of the water salamander (the triton) or of the so-called axolotl, for it exists only in a kind of embryonic development, and contains neither a vitreous humor nor a lens for the refraction of the rays of light.”

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 664, September 22,1888

  • “Among the world's varied creatures, a Mexican salamander called the axolotl appears best at regrowing whole limbs lost to injury.”

    Medlogs - Recent stories

  • “The axolotl is the champion of vertebrate regeneration, with the ability to replace whole limbs and even parts of its central nervous system," says Edward Scott, Ph. D., principal investigator for the grant and director of the McKnight Brain Institute's program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.”

    GEN News Highlights

  • “The axolotl is the highest, most complex organism that can still do this clever trick of completely reconstructing a whole body part in adulthood," said Arlene Chiu, Ph. D., a scientific adviser for the Regeneration Project and director of New Research Initiatives at Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope.”

    Health News from Medical News Today

  • “The axolotl is the champion of vertebrate regeneration, with the ability to replace whole limbs and even parts of its central nervous system," Scott said.”

    Health News from Medical News Today

  • “Limb regeneration in the axolotl occurs when undifferentiated cells accumulate under the wound epidermis at the amputation site, a process known as the establishment of a blastema.”

    THE MEDICAL NEWS

  • “The curious "axolotl," which we shall meet with in Mexico, belongs to a closely allied genus.”

    The Western World Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North and South America

  • “Interest in "axolotl" (our personal favorite) all spiked for, we assume, the first time in history.”

    Yahoo! Buzz Log

  • “It's a brief, amazing story about the narrator who may be a boy, or a man, or an axolotl, becoming obsessed with axolotls in an aquarium.”

    MIND MELD: Books That Hold Special Places in Our Hearts and On Our Shelves

  • “I have an axolotl tank that I use to make spice and kwizatz haderachs”

    Axolotl | My[confined]Space

Show 10 more examples...

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. ambystomid salamander
  1. ambystomid

same context (18)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. axlotl
  2. evolvability
  3. 10-416
  1. two-million-dollar
  2. egglike
  3. crude-oil
  1. d.c.-based
  2. three-million-dollar
  3. feedwater
  1. glass-lined
  2. four-foot-tall
  3. meter-tall
  1. oil/water
  2. water-treatment
  3. bacta
  1. hyb
  2. soviet-made
  3. fueling

reverse dictionary (7)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. siredon
  1. axolotes
  1. mud-eel
  1. water-newt
  1. land-pike
  1. water-dog
  1. water-lizard

tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. animal
  1. conversation
  1. candidate for wordie mascot
  1. 2009 scripps national spelling bee
  1. vcvcvcc
  1. nahuatl

Log in or sign up to add your own tag.

tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘axolotl’

  1. siredon

Wordmap

(beta)

Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘axolotl’.

More lists containing ‘axolotl’

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • sionnach Axolotl is also one of Julio Cortazar's best known stories.

    English translation of Axolotl

    Note the trademark "crossing over to the alternate reality" Cortazar ending. Nov 3, 2008

  • skipvia See Mexico City's 'Water Monster' Nears Extinction for the current sad state of the axolotl in what's left of its native habitat. Nov 3, 2008

  • reesetee Hmm. Now that you mention it, it does sound rather . . . odd. Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear What I can't figure out is how no one, so far, has commented on the phrase larval salamander. I mean, doesn't that just sound odd? Oct 15, 2008

  • reesetee Hey, did anyone notice how odd larval salamander sounds? Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear You know, Asativum, I was just thinking that! Oct 15, 2008

  • asativum Larval salamander is an awfully odd phrase, don't you think? Oct 15, 2008

  • chained_bear Nobody commented (yet) on how odd the phrase larval salamander sounds. Oct 15, 2008

  • sionnach If that doesn't make you thmile,
    I dunno what'll. Aug 14, 2008

  • reesetee Keep us posted if you find those terms, skip. (I sure wouldn't mind trying one--an atlatl, not a term for it. Oh...well, both.)

    Aww, chained_bear, go ahead and start a new hobby. I'm just jealous. :-) Aug 13, 2008

  • skipvia There's a small but dedicated group of atlatl fanciers here in Fairbanks. The advantage achieved by using one is substantial, but it takes a lot of practice. I got most of my attempts to go forward. Some of my attempts.

    Atlatls were used pretty much all over Alaska. I haven't been able to find an Athabascan or Yupik term for them, but I'm looking... Aug 13, 2008

  • seanahan See also axlotl. Aug 13, 2008

  • chained_bear But this one would fit on my list of... uhh... historical ... weaponry... and... uhh... poo. Aug 12, 2008

  • reesetee Good grief, bear. Don't you have enough hobbies? ;-) Aug 12, 2008

  • chained_bear I saw someone demonstrate an atlatl not too long ago. That rocked. Someday flinging spears with atlatls will be my new hobby. Aug 12, 2008

  • reesetee I doubt one could use one of these little guys to hurl a spear, though. Aug 12, 2008

  • skipvia My feeble brain always confuses this word with atlatl, although I'll have to admit that neither comes up in conversation very often. Aug 12, 2008

  • reesetee Eesh. I'd rather not be within petting range. Aug 12, 2008

  • chained_bear Every time I see this word I think of some silly pun based on "ask" vs. "ax" -olotl questions.

    See lot'll. Aug 12, 2008

  • she Approximate view from axolotl-petting range:
    192.png
    193.png
    196.png
    203.png
    204.png Aug 12, 2008

  • plethora I've always wanted a pet axolotl. Aug 12, 2008

  • chained_bear Best. Thing. Ever. Aug 12, 2008

  • reesetee Wow. That is one funky critter! Aug 12, 2008

  • she Anyone who has seen Planet Earth will know that these're all that and a bag of cats' pyjamas. Aug 12, 2008

Tweets

Looking for tweets for axolotl.

‘axolotl’ has been looked up 2295 times, loved by 1 person, added to 28 lists, commented on 24 times, and has a Scrabble score of 14.