Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A semiaquatic egg-laying mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of Australia and Tasmania, having a broad flat tail, webbed feet, and a snout resembling a duck's bill. Also called duckbill, duck-billed platypus.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In entomology, a genus of xylophagous beetles of the family Scolytidæ: synonymous in part with Bostrychus.
- n. In mammalogy: A genus of monotremes, now called Ornithorhynchus.
- n. [lowercase] The species of this genus; the duckbilled platypus. See cut under duckbill.
- n. In ornithology, a genus of sea-ducks of the family Anatidæ and the subfamily Fuligulinæ: synonymous with Fulix.
Wiktionary
- n. An egg-laying, semi-aquatic mammal with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet — males have poisonous spurs on the inside of the back legs; Ornithorhynchus anatinus
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The duck mole. See under duck.
WordNet 3.0
- n. small densely furred aquatic monotreme of Australia and Tasmania having a broad bill and tail and webbed feet; only species in the family Ornithorhynchidae
Etymologies
- New Latin Platypūs, former genus name, from Greek platupous, flat-footed : platu-, platy- + pous, foot; see ped- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The brown animal to the right of the platypus is a rhynchosaur.”
“XD I'm thinking it's going to be platypusclub dot com, but platypus is sort of a hard word.”
“And find out why the platypus is wearing a lampshade on hisitsher head.”
“(I hate being a newbie/outsider to insider-speak here ... but am I hoping in dirty-minded vain that 'petting the platypus' is actually a synonym for 'splitting the kitten'?)”
"I pledge to you all that you wish, the moon and the stars."
“The platypus is telling me to giddy up, so I'd best giddy.”
“It's getting late, and the platypus is giving me the hairy eyeball.”
“The platypus is wailing, "No sleep 'til Burlington!" at the top of hisherits voice, and, soon, the neighbors will begin to complain.”
“There has to be more coffee before the work, and I think the platypus is still asleep.”
“Anyway, the platypus is reminding me that I need to email my agent and my editor, and that I have a short story to write, and that the day is slipping away.”
"There's someone in our dreams, in our preassembled dream..."
“The platypus is showing me the red-hot poker and threatening to get personal if I don't end this entry and return to Chapter Six.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘platypus’.
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• De rerum natura
What is this list about?
Interesting words in nature and natural science (in any language!).
What kind of words am I supposed to add?
You can add species names that you lov...lagerstätte, parthenogenesis, bushbaby, lepidoptera, dinoflagellate, pupation, chrysalis, ephemeroptera, deinococcus radio..., homoplasy, sciophilous, syncytium and 218 more...
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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The weird, the wonderful and the plain hilarious
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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A Posy of platy Words
A list of words beginning with, or containing the string - platy-.
platycelian, platycelous, platycephalic, platycephalous, platycephaly, platycnemia, platycnemic, platycoria, platycoriasis, platycrania, platycyte, platyhieric and 24 more...
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•Open List: The Holy Pantheon of WTF
See John's link on McGangBang. I am seriously hungry right now.
For those who are interested, you can see all the words tagged "WTF" here. I would appreciate it if we kept that (rather...mcgangbang, e-cigarette, platypus, casu marzu, bagpipes, macropinna micros..., bacon explosion, turducken, cabeza de jabali, the demon moustac..., national lint pro..., quasars and 23 more...
reesetee Pro, perhaps you'd enjoy a poem. Apr 16, 2011
Prolagus
http://www.savagechickens.com/wp-content/uploads/chickenplatypus3.jpg">
Apr 8, 2011
Prolagus
http://www.savagechickens.com/wp-content/uploads/chickenplatypus2.jpg">
Mar 31, 2011
qroqqa Another odd thing about this is that the ending is often pronounced with a full /-pʊs/. I wonder whether this is a relic of its coming from Greek -πους, or whether it's by association with the other furry animal name 'puss'.
Oh, and Platypus is a genus of beetles. When they came to name the monotreme they gave it this genus name, but it was subsequently discovered the beetles have priority, so platypuses got reassigned to Ornithorhynchus. Jul 7, 2008
reesetee You may enjoy this then, chained_bear. :-) Mar 10, 2008
chained_bear See also ornithorhynchus—what a word—and water-mole. Mar 8, 2008
chained_bear "Jack, I cannot tell you how I long to see a platypus."
"I remember you spoke of it last time we were there."
"A damnable, a hellish last time it was too, upon my soul... New Holland is gravely in my debt."
"Never mind. It will be much better this time. You shall watch great flights of platypuses at your leisure."
"My dear, they are mammals, furry animals."
"I thought you said they laid eggs."
"So they do. That is what is so delightful. They also have bills like a duck."
"No wonder you long to see one."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Nutmeg of Consolation, 181 Mar 7, 2008