# squid

Pronunciation: say "SKWID" /skwɪd/

## Noun

1. Any of various predatory sea cephalopods with a long body inside a mantle, eight arms, and two longer tentacles, traditionally grouped as the order Teuthida.
   - Simple: A sea animal that hunts for food and has a soft body, eight arms, and two tentacles.
   - _The squid jetted away, leaving a cloud of ink hanging in the water behind it._
   - _Sperm whales dive thousands of feet to hunt giant squid._
2. A sailor in the Navy, usually as a mildly insulting nickname. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A slightly rude name for a sailor in the Navy.
   - _A couple of squids on shore leave wandered into the Army bar and started an argument._
   - _The gunnery sergeant joked that no squid could survive a week of real field training._
3. A motorcyclist, especially on a sport bike, who rides recklessly and without proper protective gear. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A motorcycle rider, often on a fast bike, who rides in a dangerous way without safety gear.
   - _Some squid weaving through traffic in a T-shirt nearly clipped my mirror._
   - _Experienced riders worry that squids give every motorcyclist a bad name._
4. In loose use, a vampire squid, which is not a true squid.
   - Simple: A short, loose name for a vampire squid, which is not a real squid.
   - _The submersible's lights caught a vampire squid, and the squid turned its webbed cape inside out over its body._
   - _For all its menacing name, the vampire squid is a gentle squid that feeds on drifting particles instead of live prey._
5. A fishhook with a piece of bright lead, bone, or other material fixed to its shank so that it looks like a squid.
   - Simple: A fishhook with a shiny piece of metal or bone on it, made to look like a squid.
   - _Old-time fishermen trolled for bluefish with a lead squid that flashed as it moved through the water._
   - _He kept a box of squids, some of polished bone and some of lead, for different kinds of fish._
8. One pound sterling, used as a joking variant of quid. *(slang, UK)*
   - Simple: One British pound. It is a joking way of saying quid.
   - _Tickets were going for forty squid each outside the stadium._
   - _He bet me a squid that the train would be late again._

## Verb

6. To fish with a hook made to look like a squid.
   - Simple: To fish with a hook that looks like a squid.
   - _They spent the evening squidding from the stern for the bluefish feeding over the shoals._
   - _Fishermen on this coast still squid for striped bass with homemade lures._
7. Of a parachute, to inflate only partly, with its sides folding in toward the center and pulsing back and forth; also, to cause a parachute to inflate only partly.
   - Simple: Of a parachute, to open only partly with the sides flapping inward, or to make a parachute open partly.
   - _At high airspeed the reserve canopy squidded, its edges sucking inward and pulsing, before it snapped fully open._
   - _Opening at too high an airspeed can squid even a well-packed canopy._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4–8** — Of unknown origin; perhaps a sailors' alteration of squirt.
**Meaning 3** — Possibly a blend of stupid + quick; the claimed origin "stupid, quick, under-dressed and imminently dead" is probably a backronym.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/squid (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).