newt

/nut/

/nut/

Other forms: newts

A newt is a small, brightly colored amphibian that spends part of its time on land and the rest in the water. A newt looks like a cross between a frog and a lizard.

Newts are a type of salamander that primarily lives on land but also has gills that enable it to occasionally live an aquatic life. The word newt comes from an ewte, and the Old English efte, "small, lizard-like animal." These little lizard-like animals have four short legs, often with webbed toes, and dry skin. When out of the water, newts seek out shady areas where they can stay cool.

Definitions of newt

1. noun

   small usually bright-colored semiaquatic salamanders of North America and Europe and northern Asia
   synonyms: triton

   types:

   Triturus vulgaris, common newt

   small semiaquatic salamander

   Notophthalmus viridescens, red eft

   red terrestrial form of a common North American newt

   Pacific newt

   any of several rough-skinned newts found in western North America

   eft

   a newt in its terrestrial stage of development

   Taricha granulosa, rough-skinned newt

   newt of humid coast from Alaska to southern California

   California newt, Taricha torosa

   newt that is similar to Taricha granulosa in characteristics and habitat

   type of:

   salamander

   any of various typically terrestrial amphibians that resemble lizards and that return to water only to breed