pollywog
noun, verb
pollywog is spelled P-O-L-L-Y-W-O-G: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 76 million words in written English, the 275,970th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pollywog means “A tadpole” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pollywog is pollywogs.
How many letters and syllables are in pollywog?
| Letters | 8: P-O-L-L-Y-W-O-G |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 76 million words; the 275,970th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pollywog?
Pollywog appears about once in every 76 million words in written English, the 275,970th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pollywog?
- Australia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-polliwog.wav, En-au-pollywog.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pollywog
- pollywogs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- polliwog
- porwiggle
- porwigle
- pollywogging participle, present
- pollywogged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pollywog mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CanadaUKUSA tadpole.
- 2
informalA sailor who has not yet crossed the equator.
- 3
archaicderogatoryAn untrustworthy person, especially a politician.
verb
- 1
USTo collect mussels, clams, etc. in shallow water using one's hands.
- 2
rareTo move in the manner of a tadpole; to zigzag, undulate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does pollywog come from?
From earlier polwigge, from Middle English polwygle, equal to poll (“head”) + wiggle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).