Dictionary

frogpole en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɹɑɡpoʊl/ (General-American)
• /ˈfɹɒɡpoʊl/ (UK)

Etymology

Blend of frog + tadpole.

Meanings

1. A young frog in the stage of development after tadpole and before froglet.
   • “He's only got on frog leg, and who knows what stage he'll be in for the competition next week. Will he be a one-legged tadpole? Or a three-legged frog? Or in the middle, a two-legged frogpole?” “Actually, there's no such thing as a frogpole,” Robert chimed in. “In science circles, we know that once the front arms pop out, the amphibian becomes known as a froglet.” 2008 November 26, Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, A Tale of Two Tails #15, volume 15, Penguin, →ISBN:
   • Frogpole At about ten weeks, the tadpole has grown front legs. Its tail is getting shorter, and it's starting to look like a frog. 2001, What's the Difference?, Learning Media Ltd, →ISBN, page 29:
   • As they undergo the transformation of metamorphosis from tadpole to adult, there comes an awkward juvenile stage that for frogs has been called “froglet” or “toadlet”, and even “frogiwog” or “frogpole." First the rear legs appear, then the front limbs. The tail and gills are absorbed for food and lungs develop; now the tadpole surfaces for air. 1997, Michael J. Caduto, Joseph Bruchac, “The Woman Who Married A Frog”, in Keepers of the Animals: Native American Stories and Wildlife Activities for Children, illustrated, reprint edition, Fulcrum Publishing, →ISBN, page 111:
   • I call them the toadpole and the frogpole. Now the only way to distinguish between the two is that the toadpole tends to turn into a toad, whereas the frogpole will tend to turn into a frog. 2003 November 19, Peter Cook, “The Tadpole Expert”, in William W. Cook, editor, Tragically I Was an Only Twin: The Complete Peter Cook, illustrated, reprint edition, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 63:
   • We followed tadpole development from tadpole - frogpole - froglet - frog over a period of eight weeks. 1999, Itasca at 90: A History in Memories: History of the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station as Told by Those who Remember it, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, page 20:
   • They determined different visual pigments in three developmental stages: in the tadpole (no matter whether legless or with hindlegs and almost fully developed forelegs), in the frogpole (the stage of almost completed metamorphosis), and finally in the adult frog (Section V,B,3,a). 1978 April 11, G. H. Bourne, J. F. Danielli, K.W. Jeon, International Review of Cytology: Volume 50, volume 50, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 128:
   • Tadpoles and frogs were my next fancy; the intermediate stage known in the family as "frogpole" pleased me most. 1970, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 307, William Blackwood, page 547:
   • My gills have closed up. Now I swim up to the surface for each breath of air. I am growing bigger and bigger. We all feed on tiny underwater plants. "Frogpole" I am nine weeks old. 2007, Angela Royston, Frog, illustrated, revised edition, DK Pub., →ISBN:
   • Since it could not feed because its digestive tract was incompletely transformed, its life as a “frogpole" lasted only a few weeks. 1972, William Etkin, Robert M. Devlin, Thomas G. Bouffard, A Biology of Human Concern, revised edition, Lippincott, →ISBN, page 358:
   • […] animals have fully developed all four limbs but still have a tail, “frogpole" red rods containing pigment mixtures (λₘₐₓ 515 nm) are found (spectra nearly identical to trout). 2012 December 6, Herbert J.A. Dartnall, “Chapter 10”, in Photochemistry of Vision, illustrated edition, volume 7, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 507:

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