Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various slow-moving, microscopic invertebrates of the phylum Tardigrada that have four body segments, eight legs, and a chitinous cuticle, inhabit aquatic or moist terrestrial environments, and can withstand extreme temperatures.
- adjective Of or belonging to the Tardigrada.
- adjective Slow in action; slow-moving.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Slowgoing; slow in movement; specifically, noting the Tardigrada in either sense. Compare
gravigrade . - noun One of the Tardigrada.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) One of the Tardigrada.
- adjective rare Moving or stepping slowly; slow-paced.
- adjective (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Tardigrada.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Sluggish ; moving slowly. - noun zoology A member of the
animal phylum Tardigrada .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an arthropod of the division Tardigrada
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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“Eva Nine, I have heard stories of beasts telepathically imprinting onto others—like wild dargs becoming tame for frint farmers—but what you call a ‘tardigrade’ is no pet.”
The Search For WondLa Tony DiTerlizzi 2010
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I asked, indicating the tardigrade, “What has this to do with me?”
Masked Lou Anders 2010
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I asked, indicating the tardigrade, “What has this to do with me?”
Masked Lou Anders 2010
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But, as you suggested regarding the tardigrade, I need to speak with them.
The Search For WondLa Tony DiTerlizzi 2010
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“The Omnipod said he was a species of tardigrade, or water bear.”
The Search For WondLa Tony DiTerlizzi 2010
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That's a tardigrade or waterbear, one of the world's hardiest living species!
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I forgot to ask him what the tardigrade tasted like.
So many phyla so little time to eat them all AYDIN 2008
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Not much tardigrade love there, so instead, let me offer links to www.tardigrades.com, tardigrades.bio.unc.edu, and the actual tardigradesinspace.blogspot.com site which hasn't been updated since November.
ianrandalstrock's Journal ianrandalstrock 2008
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Swedish researchers loaded two species of tardigrade already in their desiccated form onto the European Space Agency's Biopan-6 experimental platform, where for 10 days they were exposed to the radiation, vacuum and low temperature of space.
Prospects and Perils 2008
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There are several freshwater micrometazoans -- tardigrades leap to mind -- that live in ostensibly terrestrial habitats at human scales (such as a clump of moss), but that are only metabolically active when these areas are "damp" (which, to a tardigrade, means "totally submerged").
What is a terrestrial animal? AYDIN 2008
Prolagus commented on the word tardigrade
See also Jönsson et al 2008 Curr Biol. This cutie is tough!
September 10, 2008
reesetee commented on the word tardigrade
Moss piglets? Haha!
September 10, 2008
bilby commented on the word tardigrade
Aka space bear.
July 19, 2017
MaryW commented on the word tardigrade
See Thomas Boothby, Meet the Tardigrade, the Toughest Animal on Earth, TED-Ed.
May 7, 2018
MaryW commented on the word tardigrade
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson, We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe (Riverhead Books: New York, 2017), p. 321 n. 126May 7, 2018