Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of very short-tailed wren-like birds of India, generally referred to the genus Tesia. Hodgson, 1841.
  • noun A genus of leaf-nosed bats, of the family Phyllostomatidœ.
  • noun Also written Anoura.
  • An order of Amphibia, the Batrachia salientia, or batrachians proper, as frogs and toads; salient oviparous amphibians, tailless when adult, provided with well-developed legs, breathing air by lungs, and undergoing complete metamorphosis from the tadpole state, in which they are tailed and limbless, and breathe water by gills.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun plural (Zoöl.) One of the orders of amphibians characterized by the absence of a tail, as the frogs and toads.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun frogs, toads, tree toads

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Debate Summary: you could argue either way that one came out a little ahead, but there was no clear knockout decisive winner Guest_fancy feast: Consumption of anura appendages just creeps me out!

    Idaho Falls Today! Local Information. 2008

  • Debate Summary: you could argue either way that one came out a little ahead, but there was no clear knockout decisive winner Guest_fancy feast: Consumption of anura appendages just creeps me out!

    Idaho Falls Today! Local Information. 2008

  • Debate Summary: you could argue either way that one came out a little ahead, but there was no clear knockout decisive winner Guest_fancy feast: Consumption of anura appendages just creeps me out!

    Idaho Falls Today! Local Information. 2008

  • a - L. manus ` hand 'amanous ` handless' an - enteron ` intestine 'anenterous ` without intestines' an - oura ` tail 'anura ` tailless' an - ōps ` eye 'anopsy ` eyeless'

    VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol XIV No 3 1988

Comments

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  • This makes me happy.

    September 5, 2008

  • Here you find them in the toilet.

    September 5, 2008

  • This particular species? Or just generic frogs?

    September 5, 2008

  • If bovilexia is the urge to moo when you see a cow, is ranilexia the urge to croak when you see a frog?

    (Bilby, I hope you don't have the urge to flush.)

    September 5, 2008

  • Large green tree frogs. During the 'winter' (joke) we have no rain for about 6 months. If amphibians don't have a moist place to wait it out, they come into houses in search of water. Which is why it's not uncommon to find a great green dunny frog sitting happily in your toilet counting its blessings.

    September 5, 2008

  • Wow. So you always remember to turn on the lights first when you head there at night, I suppose?

    September 5, 2008

  • Not a bad idea. Some people have been known to leave a bucket of water outside for them on purpose. If the water gets a bit smelly/stagnant you tip it out on the garden and fill it up again.

    September 5, 2008

  • Good thinking.

    September 5, 2008

  • Gah, I nearly peed on a frog yesterday. And as I headed for another cubicle - it was a public toilet - all I could think of was "I'm sure I said something about this on Wordie recently."

    Do you think invoking the big-W while urinating on frogs might be a stage in Wordie addiction?

    September 15, 2008

  • No, only when avoiding urinating on frogs. That's why they're called anurans.

    September 15, 2008

  • You know, having gone out of my way to handle frogs in my misspent youth, there would be a delicious irony in getting the chance to pee on one. Turnabout, fair play and all that.

    September 15, 2008

  • That would make more sense asativum, if the frogs had been handling you. But since it was you who went out of your way to handle them, shouldn't it be the frogs now yearning for the chance to pee on you?

    September 15, 2008

  • Bilby, if that's a stage of Wordie addiction, you're in serious need of counseling, I'd say. ;-)

    September 15, 2008

  • Oh, they did, yarb; they did. I don't think I've ever handled a frog without it peeing on me. Some sort of defense mechanism, or maybe it lightens the load for the leap to safety.

    September 20, 2008