tripod
UK /ˈtɹaɪpɒd/ · US /ˈtɹaɪpɑd/ noun, verb
Forms tripods tripoding tripoded
- noun A three-legged stand or mount. “Cameras often have tripod attachments, which help when taking steady photographs.”
- noun (zoology) An organism with three limbs.
- noun (science fiction) A fictional three-legged Martian war machine from H.G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds (1897).
- noun (sex, slang, humorous) Someone with a very large penis.
- verb (intransitive) To enter the tripod position showing signs of exhaustion or distress. “I tripodded after my 6-mile run.”
- verb (herpetology, intransitive) Of a lizard, to raise its body upright bracing itself on hind legs and tail.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin tripod- (stem of tripūs, tripodis), from Ancient Greek τρίποδ- (trípod-, stem of τρίπους, τρίποδος (trípous, trípodos), literally “three-footed”); equivalent to tri- + -pod. Doublet of tripus, tripos, and teapoy.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any utensil or vessel, as a stool, table, altar, caldron, etc., supported on three feet.
- noun A three-legged frame or stand, usually jointed at top, for supporting a theodolite, compass, telescope, camera, or other instrument. Tripod of life, or Vital tripod (Physiol.), the three organs, the heart, lungs, and brain; --so called because their united action is necessary to the maintenance of life.
Etymology [L. tripus, -odis, Gr. Tri-) + Foot, and cf. Tripos, Trivet.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tripod”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details