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tardigrade

noun

  1. any protostome of the phylum Tardigrada, also called water bears
L1117977 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈtɑɹdɪˌɡɹeɪd/

adj

Etymology: From Latin tardigradus (“slowly stepping”), from tardus (“slow”) + gradior (“step, walk”), equivalent to Latin tardus + -i- + -grade.

  1. Sluggish; moving slowly.

    Each tendril ending in a perfect claw, / Obeys the whole routine of Nature's law; / Transforms each sinus to a sylvan shade, / Though p'rhaps its force is rather tardigrade.

    He ran on into the piazza, but he quickly heard the tramp of feet behind him, for the other two prisoners had been released, and the soldiers were struggling and fighting their way after them, in such tardigrade fashion as their hoof-shaped shoes would allow—impeded, but not very resolutely attacked, by the people.

noun

Etymology: From translingual Tardigrada.

  1. A member of the animal phylum Tardigrada.
  2. A sloth, a neotropical mammal of suborder Folivora (syn. Tardigrada).