Squid

//skwɪd// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of several carnivorous marine cephalopod mollusks, of the order Teuthida, having a mantle, eight arms, and a pair of tentacles
  2. 2
    A motorcyclist, especially a sport biker, characterized by reckless riding and lack of protective gear. derogatory, slang

    ""In my mind, a street squid is anyone who races on the street. Period."¹"

  3. 3
    A South Korean children's game where players, divided into offense and defense, compete on a squid-shaped field; the offensive team tries to reach a designated area, and the defensive team attempts to block them. uncountable
  4. 4
    Acronym of superconducting quantum interference device, a sensor that uses certain quantum effects to detect small magnetic fields. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
  5. 5
    widely distributed fast-moving ten-armed cephalopod mollusk having a long tapered body with triangular tail fins wordnet
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    A fishhook with a piece of bright lead, bone, or other substance fastened on its shank to imitate a squid.
  2. 7
    (Italian cuisine) squid prepared as food wordnet
  3. 8
    A sailor in the Navy. US, derogatory, mildly, slang
  4. 9
    A quid; one pound sterling. UK, humorous, rare, slang

    "Can you lend me five squid? I feel like a bacon sarnie."

  5. 10
    A vampire squid.
Verb
  1. 1
    To fish with a squid fishhook.
  2. 2
    To cause squidding (an improper, partial, parachute inflation, that results in the sides of the parachute folding in on the center, and pulsating back and forth).

Synonyms

All synonyms
baitcalamaricalamarycobwebdragnetfishhook

Example

More examples

"Christopher Columbus's "The Idiot's Guide to Killing a Shark Barehanded" and "The Twenty Ways to Strangle a Giant Squid" both went on to become bestsellers."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Unknown. Perhaps a sailors' alteration of squirt.

Etymology 2

Possibly a blend of stupid + quick; "stupid, quick, under-dressed and imminently dead", a claimed origin, is probably a backronym.

Etymology 3

Calque of Korean 오징어 (ojing'eo).

Related phrases

Argentine shortfin squidAtlantic brief squidAtlantic squidCaribbean reef squidDana octopus squidEuropean squidGould's squidGrimaldi scaled squidHawaiian bobtail squidHumboldt squidJapanese common squidJapanese flying squid

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.