Amphibians

any cold-blooded vertebrate of the cl-ss amphibia, comprising frogs and toads, newts and salamanders, and caecilians, the larvae being typically aquatic, breathing by gills, and the adults being typically semiterrestrial, breathing by lungs and through the moist, glandular skin.
an plant.
an airplane designed for taking off from and landing on both land and water.
also called amtrac. a flat-bottomed, armed, military vehicle, equipped with both tracks and a rudder, that can travel either on land or in water, used chiefly for landing -ssault troops.
belonging or pertaining to the amphibia.
(def 2).
contemporary examples

some resemble insects, while others look like crustaceans, amphibians, and sharks and move fluidly.
guillermo del toro’s ‘pacific rim’ is a total blast marlow stern july 8, 2013

over the next decade, the rets wreaked havoc on the ecosystem, eating ducklings, small water birds, and other amphibians.
how the ‘teenage mutant ninja turtles’ inadvertently caused an environmental crisis alex suskind august 4, 2014

historical examples

the mllerian duct persists in its entirety in male amphibians, but only its upper end remains in male selachians.
the works of francis maitland balfour, volume 1 francis maitland balfour

but luckily about a hundred of the amphibians came on to the beach.
g-dfrey morgan jules verne

these were marine animals of large size, but not fishes or amphibians.
the chain of life in geological time sir j. william dawson

these amphibians are evidently the descendants of some of the fishes of the devonian times.
the meaning of evolution samuel christian schmucker

fleischmann first discusses the differences between the cl-sses of vertebrates; the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
at the deathbed of darwinism eberhard dennert

this doubtless was true of the amphibians of the coal period.
the meaning of evolution samuel christian schmucker

do everything in your power to halt the march of moyen’s amphibians!
astounding stories of super-science april 1930 various

as for the creatures of the deep, the reptiles and amphibians, most of them were dead.
hunters out of sp-ce joseph everidge kelleam

noun
any cold-blooded vertebrate of the cl-ss amphibia, typically living on land but breeding in water. their aquatic larvae (tadpoles) undergo metamorphosis into the adult form. the cl-ss includes the newts and salamanders, frogs and toads, and caecilians
a type of aircraft able to land and take off from both water and land
any vehicle able to travel on both water and land
adjective
another word for amphibious
of, relating to, or belonging to the cl-ss amphibia
adj.

1630s, “having two modes of existence, of doubtful nature,” from greek amphibia, neuter plural of amphibios “living a double life,” from amphi- “of both kinds” (see amphi-) + bios “life” (see bio-).

formerly used by zoologists to describe all sorts of combined natures (including otters and seals), the biological sense “cl-ss of animals between fishes and reptiles that live both on land and in water” and the noun derivative both are first recorded 1835. amphibia was used in this sense from c.1600 and has been a zoological cl-ssification since c.1819.
amphibian
(ām-fĭb’ē-ən)
a cold-blooded, smooth-skinned vertebrate of the cl-ss amphibia. amphibians hatch as aquatic larvae with gills and, in most species, then undergo metamorphosis into four-legged terrestrial adults with lungs for breathing air. the eggs of amphibians are fertilized externally and lack an amnion. amphibians evolved from lobe-finned fish during the late devonian period and include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, and caecilians.

our living language : amphibians, not quite fish and not quite reptiles, were the first vertebrates to live on land. these cold-blooded animals spend their larval stage in water, breathing through their gills. in adulthood they usually live on land, using their lungs to breath air. this double life is also at the root of their name, amphibian, which, like many scientific words, derives from greek. the greek prefix amphi- means “both,” or “double,” and the greek word bios means “life.” both these elements are widely used in english scientific terminology: bios, for example, is seen in such words as biology, antibiotic, and symbiotic.

amphibians [(am-fib-ee-uhnz)]

vertebrate animals, such as frogs, that live part of their life cycle in the water and the other part on land.

note: amphibian is also used to describe things such as vehicles that can operate both on land and in the water.

note: amphibians were the first land-dwelling animals to evolve.