millipede

/ˌmɪləˈpid/

/ˈmɪlɪpid/

Other forms: millipedes

A millipede is a long, worm-like bug with a disturbing number of tiny legs. Some millipedes roll into a tiny ball when they're threatened — and you might roll into a tiny ball if you see one in your bedroom. Eek!

Millipedes have many similarities to centipedes. Both are arthropods (not insects, but tiny animals with exoskeletons), and both have segmented bodies. Rather than a centipede's single pair of legs per segment, a millipede has two pairs. In other words, twice as many legs — which explains the name, millipede, with its roots mille, "thousand," and ped, "foot." Unlike centipedes, millipedes aren't poisonous, which doesn't mean you'll be happy to discover a family of millipedes living in your bathroom.

Definitions of millipede

1. noun

   any of numerous herbivorous nonpoisonous arthropods having a cylindrical body of 20 to 100 or more segments most with two pairs of legs
   synonyms: millepede, milliped

   type of:

   arthropod

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