SALAMANDER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does salamander mean? 

• SALAMANDER (noun)
  The noun SALAMANDER has 3 senses:

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

2. reptilian creature supposed to live in fire

3. fire iron consisting of a metal rod with a handle; used to stir a fire

  Familiarity information: SALAMANDER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SALAMANDER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("salamander" is a kind of...):

amphibian (cold-blooded vertebrate typically living on land but breeding in water; aquatic larvae undergo metamorphosis into adult form)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "salamander"):

Dicamptodon ensatus; Pacific giant salamander (large (to 7 inches) salamander of western North America)

siren (eellike aquatic North American salamander with small forelimbs and no hind limbs; have permanent external gills)

amphiuma; blind eel; congo eel; congo snake (aquatic eel-shaped salamander having two pairs of very small feet; of still muddy waters in the southern United States)

web-toed salamander (any of several salamanders with webbed toes and very long extensile tongues; excellent climbers that move with ease over smooth rock surfaces)

slender salamander; worm salamander (any of several small slim salamanders of the Pacific coast of the United States)

climbing salamander (any of several North American salamanders adapted for climbing with well-developed limbs and long somewhat squared-off toes)

dusky salamander (common North American salamander mottled with dull brown or greyish-black)

Plethodon vehiculum; western red-backed salamander (salamander of the Pacific coast of North America)

eastern red-backed salamander; Plethodon cinereus (common salamander of eastern North America)

lungless salamander; plethodont (mostly terrestrial salamanders that breathe through their thin moist skin; lay eggs in moist places on land; rarely enter water)

olympic salamander; Rhyacotriton olympicus (small large-eyed semiaquatic salamander of the United States Northwest)

European fire salamander; Salamandra salamandra (a kind of European salamander)

dicamptodon; dicamptodontid (salamanders found near cold streams throughout the year)

mud puppy; Necturus maculosus (aquatic North American salamander with red feathery external gills)

olm; Proteus anguinus (European aquatic salamander with permanent external gills that lives in caves)

giant salamander; Megalobatrachus maximus (large (up to more than three feet) edible salamander of Asia)

Cryptobranchus alleganiensis; hellbender; mud puppy (large salamander of North American rivers and streams)

ambystomid; ambystomid salamander (small to moderate-sized terrestrial or semiaquatic New World salamander)

newt; triton (small usually bright-colored semiaquatic salamanders of North America and Europe and northern Asia)

alpine salamander; Salamandra atra (ovoviviparous amphibian of the Alps)

fire salamander; Salamandra maculosa; spotted salamander (European salamander having dark skin with usually yellow spots)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reptilian creature supposed to live in fire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("salamander" is a kind of...):

mythical creature; mythical monster (a monster renowned in folklore and myth)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fire iron consisting of a metal rod with a handle; used to stir a fire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

fire hook; poker; salamander; stove poker

Hypernyms ("salamander" is a kind of...):

fire iron (metal fireside implements)

 Context examples 

If that will be your married look, I, as a Christian, will soon give up the notion of consorting with a mere sprite or salamander.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A taxonomic class of vertebrates that include frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, and gymnophiona.

(Amphibia, NCI Thesaurus)