/ok"teuh peuhs/ , n. , pl. octopuses, octopi /-puy'/ .
1. any octopod of the genus Octopus, having a soft, oval body and eight sucker-bearing arms, living mostly at the bottom of the sea.
2. something likened to an octopus, as an organization with many forms of far-reaching influence or control.
[ 1750-60; októpous (pl. októpodes ) eight-footed; see OCTO-, -POD ]