Scorpion definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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American Heritage Dictionary (2)

noun Any of various arachnids of the order Scorpionida, of warm dry regions, having a segmented body and an erectile tail tipped with a venomous sting.
noun See Scorpius.

Century Dictionary (9)

In zoology, an arthropod of the order Scorpionida. It has an elongated body: the cephalothorax is continuous with the abdomen, which ends in a long slender postabdomen, which latter can be curled up over the back and is armed at the end with a sharp sting or telson, more or less hooked like a claw, and connected with a venomgland, so that its puncture inflicts a poisoned wound. (See also cuts under Buthus and Scorpionidæ.) The sting of a scorpion is painful, and is said to paralyze the organs of speech. The scorpion has also a large pair of nippers in front, like the great claws of a lobster, and the whole figure is suggestive of a little lobster, an inch or a few inches long. Scorpions abound in tropical and warm temperate countries. In the former they attain the maximum size of 8 or 10 inches, and are very formidable. They commonly lurk in dark retreats, as under stones aud logs, and are particularly active at night. They are carnivorous and predaceous; they seize their prey with their nippers, and sting it to death. Scorpions are justly dreaded, but some popular beliefs respecting them have no fonndation in fact, as that when the creature is surrounded by fire it stings itself to death rather than be burned, or that some fluid extracted from a scorpion will cure its sting. Thes is the scorpioun thet maketh uayr mid the heauede, and enueymeth mid the tayle. Ayenbite of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 62. I lykne her to the scorpioun, That is a fals flatering beste; For with his hede he maketh feste, But al amyd his flateringe With his tayle he wol stinge And envenyme. Chaucer, Death of Blanche, l. 636. And though I once despair'd of woman, now I find they relish much of scorpions, For both have stings, and both can hurt and cure too. Beau. and Fl., Custom of the Country, v. 5. 'Tis true, a scorpion's oil is said To cure the wounds the vermin made. S. Butler, Hudibras, III. ii. 1029.
Hence Some creature likened to or mistaken for a scorpion, and poisonous or supposed to be so. A false scorpion; any member of the Pseudoscorpiones. Among these arachnidans, belonging to the same class as the true scorpion, but to a different order, the members of the genus Chelifer are known as book-scorpions. (See Cheliferidæ, and cut under Pseudoscorpiones.) Those called whip-scorpions are of the family Thelyphonidæ. (See cut under Pedipalpi.) Closely related to these, and sometimes sharing the name, are the Phrynidæ. (See cut under Phrynidæ.) Centipeds and tarantulas are often confounded in the popular mind with scorpions, as are also various small lizards, in the latter case probably from the habit some of them have of carrying their tails up. Thus, in the United States, some harmless lizards or skinks, as of the genera Sceloporus and Eumeces, are commonly called scorpions. Same as scorpion-bug.
In ichthyology, a scorpion-fish or sea-scorpion; one of several different members of the Scorpænidæ, some of which are also called scorpene and sculpin. See cut under Scorpæna, and etymology of Scolopendra.

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It looks like the scorpion will be better to use control wise. — Aussie-Nintendo.com Forums
"While one probationer was stung by a scorpion, another was injured in a bison attack." — The Hindu - Front Page
While one probationer was stung by a scorpion, another was injured in a bison attack. — The Hindu - Front Page
I learned that when the scorpion was black, it meant that my energy was being self-defeating and harmful, and when white, all was well. — Witchvox - RSS Feed - New Articles This Week
A graphic t-shirt with a woman riding a scorpion is a necessity. — WordPress.com News

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wasp · hornet · centipede · viper · cobra · francisco · rattlesnake · tarantula · tadpole · grasshopper · adder · toad

Etymologies (2)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English, from Old French, from Latin scorpiō, scorpiōn-, alteration of scorpius, from Greek skorpios.

Century Dictionary (1)

from Middle English scorpion, scorpioun, scorpiun, from Old French scorpion, scorpiun, escorpion, French scorpion = Provencal Spanish escorpion = Portuguese escorpião = Italian scorpione, also scorpio = Dutch schorpioen = Middle Low German schorpiōn, schorpie = Old High German scorpjo, scorpo, Middle High German schorpe, schorp, scorpe, scorp, German scorpion = Swedish Danish skorpion. L. scorpio (n -), also scorpius, from Greek σκορπίος (later also σκορπίων in sense of a military engine), a scorpion, also a prickly sea-fish, a prickly plant, the constellation so called, a military engine.

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