octopodian

comparative more octopodian · superlative most octopodian

1. Resembling an octopus; octopuslike.

   The Marquess Wellesley tried to draw within the octopodian arms of his co-religionists and compatriots all the Maratha States by forging on them the fetters of the subsidiary alliance.

   2001, B.D. Basu, Rise of the Christian power in India, →ISBN

   4 more examples

   Once the Russians had installed themselves at Merv, and drawn within their octopodian arms the Tekkes, the Salors, and part of the Saruks, they thereby established just the shadow of a specious claim to the suzerainty of all the Turkomans, ...

   1887, Arthur Campbell Yate, England and Russia Face to Face in Asia: Travels with the Afghan Boundary Commission, page 371

   ... farther than could have been supposed — suddenly let go, and, having passed out of the city, we found ourselves gliding through a landscape of surpassing loveliness which gave no hint of the nearness of the octopodian monster.

   1911, Aida Rodman De Milt, Ways and Days Out of London, page 18

   There were a few unusual creatures, like the octopodian creature that slithered along upright on tentacles and regarded her with bulbous eyes that had stars for pupils. Or the purple furry creature that walked on all four of its hands.

   2007, Amia Kettier, Awakening, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 144

   Not sure how much I believe it—they tend to keep to themselves, spending most of their time in their underwater colonies in the Sunk. Cephels' octopodian heritage make them excellent fishermen and shellfish collectors.

   2013, K. M. Alexander, The Stars Were Right, K. M. Alexander, →ISBN

2. Resembling an octopod (an organism with eight feet or legs); eight-legged, eight-footed.

   On the 16th some of the ticks cast their skin for the first time, and are now at the stage of octopodian nymphae, for now they have four pairs of legs.

   1901, Queensland Agricultural Journal, page 261

   1 more example

   Centipedes hastened past, legs moving in agitated undulations; tiny red spiders pounced, like octopodian tigers from another, microscopic world, on prey so infinitesimal that it was impossible to see whether it crawled or flew.

   2010, Christian Miller, A Childhood In Scotland, Canongate Books, →ISBN

   Synonyms: octopod, octopodal, octopodous