any minute aquatic segmented eight-legged invertebrate of the phylum Tardigrada, related to the arthropods, occurring in soil, ditches, etc
Popular name: water bear
adjective
2.
of, relating to, or belonging to the Tardigrada
Word origin
C17: via Latin tardigradus, from tardus sluggish + gradī to walk
water bear in American English
noun
Zoology
a tardigrade
Word origin
[1700–10]This word is first recorded in the period 1700–10. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cirrus, cozy, emphatic, envelope, marquise
Examples of 'water bear' in a sentence
water bear
Letting the water bear him, he swam endlessly towards the light, the snow-bearing clouds, into the sky itself.
Adair, Tom (Intro) THREE KINDS OF KISSING - SCOTTISH SHORT STORIES
Water bears have an entire phylum to themselves, just like us vertebrates.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Best of all were the tardigrades, or water bears.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
There are about 1,000 species of water bears, and few things in creation are better at not dying.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
They hang in the water, borne along on the tank's absent ripples, passing each other like waterborne toys, dangling mobiles.