Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various cold-blooded, usually smooth-skinned vertebrates of the class Amphibia, characteristically hatching as an aquatic larva with gills and then transforming into an adult having air-breathing lungs. Frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians are amphibians.
  • noun An animal capable of living both on land and in water.
  • noun An aircraft that can take off and land on either land or water.
  • noun A tracked or wheeled vehicle that can operate both on land and in water.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to amphibia in any sense; specifically, pertaining to the class Amphibia. See amphibious, 2.
  • noun An animal of the class Amphibia.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) One of the Amphibia.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Amphibia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective obsolete Having two natures.
  • adjective Pertaining to the Amphibia.
  • noun An animal of the Amphibia; any four-legged vertebrate that does not have amniotic eggs, living both on land and in water.
  • noun A vehicle which can operate on land and water.
  • adjective Of or relating to the amphibians Amphibia.
  • adjective Capable of operating on both land and water amphibious.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a flat-bottomed motor vehicle that can travel on land or water
  • noun cold-blooded vertebrate typically living on land but breeding in water; aquatic larvae undergo metamorphosis into adult form
  • adjective relating to or characteristic of animals of the class Amphibia
  • noun an airplane designed to take off and land on water

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From New Latin Amphibia, class name, from Greek, neuter pl. of amphibios, amphibious : amphi-, amphi- + bios, life; see gwei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἀμφίβιον (amphibion), from ἀμφί (amphi, "of both kinds") + βίος (bios, "life")

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