scorpion
n. countablen. a small animal with eight legs and a curved tail that can sting you. It usually lives in hot, dry places like deserts.
n. an arachnid of the order Scorpiones, characterized by a segmented tail ending in a venomous stinger and a pair of grasping pedipalps. While the metadata suggests an archaic astronomical sense, the modern primary sense refers to the biological organism.
The scorpion hid under a large rock in the desert.
Hikers in the Southwest are often advised to shake out their boots to check for a hidden scorpion.
Despite their fearsome reputation, only a small fraction of scorpion species possess venom potent enough to pose a significant medical threat to a healthy adult human.
From the animal scorpion, from Latin scorpio (“scorpion”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
When referring to the constellation or zodiac sign, it is typically capitalized as 'the Scorpion' or 'Scorpius'.
Last updated May 6, 2026