From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoctopusoc‧to‧pus /ˈɒktəpəs $ ˈɑːk-/ noun (plural octopuses or octopi /-paɪ/) [countable] HBAa sea creature with eight tentacles (=arms)
Examples from the Corpus
octopus• It happened to be an octopus a fisherman had brought Tillman two or three days ago.• And even a non- biology major could tell the rubbery item with the tentacles was obviously related to an octopus.• This is the pattern of the squid and octopus eye as well as of the artificial mechanical one built by man, the camera.• Through the shimmer he saw the huge octopus eyes of the juggernaut grow dimmer.• Mitchell ruminated on the hideous milky flesh, thinking, I am going to eat that octopus.• To make this easier, the octopus secretes an enzyme that helps to digest the tissue and loosen it from the shell.• All fatalities associated with this species have occurred when swimmers or divers have casually picked up and handled the octopus.• The octopus body is made from a tubular cake, achieved by baking cake mixture in an empty food can.Origin octopus (1700-1800) Modern Latin Greek oktopous “scorpion”, from okto “eight” + pous “foot” 