Meaning & use
centipede
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A long, flat, many-legged creature that hunts other small animals and has venomous front claws.
Grammar: Countable: one centipede, two centipedes.
Patterns
- a centipede bites someone
- a centipede crawls
- be bitten by a centipede
A centipede ran across the bathroom floor and hid under the mat.
Centipedes are predators, so they help control insect populations.
He was bitten by a centipede while gardening and his hand swelled up.
Word forms
| plural | centipedes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a centipede bite
- A centipede bite can be painful but is rarely dangerous to humans.
- a giant centipede
- The giant centipede can grow up to 30 centimeters long.
- house centipede
- A house centipede has very long legs and moves quickly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- millipede
- A millipede is rounder, eats plants, and has two pairs of legs per segment; a centipede is flat and eats other animals.
Word family
- centipedal adjective
- Relating to centipedes; rare.
Commonly confused: centipede or millipede?
centipede vs millipede
Millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment and are harmless plant-eaters; centipedes have one pair per segment and are venomous predators.
Practice
Which statement about centipedes is true?
Choose one answer.
Centipedes are predators with venomous front claws. Option A describes millipedes, B describes millipedes (two pairs of legs), and D is wrong because centipedes are arthropods, not worms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “centipede”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.