Polyp
//ˈpɑlɪp// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An abnormal growth protruding from a mucous membrane.
- 2 one of two forms that coelenterates take (e.g. a hydra or coral): usually sedentary with a hollow cylindrical body usually with a ring of tentacles around the mouth wordnet
- 3 A cylindrical coelenterate, such as the hydra, having a mouth surrounded with tentacles.
- 4 a small vascular growth on the surface of a mucous membrane wordnet
- 5 A cylindrical coelenterate, such as the hydra, having a mouth surrounded with tentacles.; The sessile life stage of many cnidarians, whose free-swimming stage, if present, is the medusa.
Example
More examples"I'm afraid I have a polyp in my nose."
Etymology
From Latin polypus (“a polyp, a polypus in the nose”), from Ancient Greek πολύπους (polúpous, from πολύς (polús, “many”) + πούς (poús, “foot”)). Doublet of polypus.
Related phrases
More for "polyp"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.