centipede

IPA/ˈsentɪpiːd/
KK[sˈɛntɪpˌid]IPA/ˈsentɪpiːd/

centipede — noun

  • centipedesingular
  • centipedesplural

1. A small creature with a long, narrow body made up of many sections, each section

1.nounB1
Definition

A small creature with a long, narrow body made up of many sections, each section having its own two legs; it lives in dark, damp places such as under stones, in soil, or inside rotting wood.

Example

Sari found a centipede crawling under a flat stone in her garden.

collocation: found + under [stone|rock]

Obi watched a centipede move quickly across the kitchen floor and disappear behind the fridge.

collocation: move + across [surface]

Common collocations
  • find a centipede
  • a centipede crawls
  • a centipede wriggles
  • under a stone
  • in the soil
  • behind furniture
Synonyms
  • millipede

    Similar-looking but has two pairs of legs per segment, a rounder body, and is not venomous.

Grammar Patterns

a/an + centipede

centipede + verb

Usage Note

Countable. Often used with verbs of movement (crawl, wriggle, move) and location (under, behind, inside). Not an insect — centipedes belong to the class Chilopoda.

Common Mistakes

A centipede has 100 legs.
A centipede has one pair of legs per body segment, but the number varies by species.
The name suggests '100 feet,' but many species have fewer.

Word family

  • millipede
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Centipedes and millipedes look similar at first glance — both are long, many-legged creatures that live in damp places. However, centipedes have one pair of legs per segment, a flattened body, and are fast-moving hunters that can deliver a venomous bite. Millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment, a rounder body, move slowly, and feed on decaying plant matter. The centipede's name comes from Latin for 'hundred feet,' though many species have far fewer. If you see a quick, flat creature darting across the floor, it is probably a centipede; the slow, tube-shaped one curled up near the compost is a millipede.

centipede ↗millipede

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • found under a rock
  • crawl across the floor
  • hide in a crack

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

From Latin 'centum' (hundred) and 'pes' (foot), literally meaning 'hundred-footed.' The word entered English in the 16th century, referring to the many pairs of legs that these creatures have.

First known use

1601

1601, in the meaning defined above