centipede

/ˌsɛntəˈpid/

/ˈsɛntɪpid/

Other forms: centipedes

A centipede is a poisonous bug with many tiny legs. If you can bring yourself to look closely at a centipede, you'll see its body is divided into segments, each having one pair of legs.

Most people assume that centipedes are insects, but they're actually arthropods, tiny invertebrate animals with exoskeletons and segmented bodies — and a seriously squicky number of legs. The profusion of little legs is what gives the centipede its name; the Latin is centipeda, "many-footed arthropod," from centum, "hundred," and pedis, "foot." Despite their name, centipedes can have anywhere from 30 to over 300 legs.

Definitions of centipede

1. noun

   a long, venomous insect-like creature having many body segments, each with many pairs of legs and belonging in the Arthropoda phylum
   types:

   Scutigera coleoptrata, house centipede

   long-legged centipede common in damp places as e.g. cellars

   type of:

   arthropod

   invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body with an exoskeleton made of chitin