octopus

Etymology

From Latin octōpūs, from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktṓpous), from ὀκτώ (oktṓ, “eight”) + πούς (poús, “foot”).

noun

1. Any of several marine molluscs of the family Octopodidae, having no internal or external protective shell or bone (unlike the nautilus, squid and cuttlefish) and eight arms each covered with suckers.
2. (uncountable) The flesh of these marine molluscs eaten as food.
3. An organization that has many powerful branches controlled from the centre.

verb

1. To put (or attempt to put) one's fingers, hands or arms in many things or places at roughly the same time.
   He rises up on his wasted legs, the healer's hands octopussed on his head. 1994, Susan Ketchin, The Christ-haunted Landscape
   A skinny, sauced-looking gent in shorts and baseball cap wandered in through the door, his arms octopussing no less than three pre-teen girls. 2006, Stuart Lloyd, Gone Troppo: Hot Babes, Warm Weather, Cold Beer. Paradise!
   I took off my shirt, standing in swim trunks, embarrassed of my tour body, my hands octopussing around the ashamed drink tickets of my gut. 2018, Derrick C. Brown, Hello. It Doesn't Matter.
2. To spread out in long arms or legs in many directions.
   The bug-eyed press octopussed to their respective word processors. 1995, Donald A. Weatherby, The Star-Spangled Specter, page 105
   Dirt roads octopussed into the interior, where there were more dried mud and shrivelled crops. 1997, The Unesco Courier - Volume 50, Issues 1-6, page 33
   He had attached three more on so now there were seven legs octopussing out from underneath the chair. 2002, Susan Goyette, Lures: A Novel, page 224
   The main house was a sprawling gray two-story structure with breezeways connecting it to the dining hall and another large wing, making it look like it had outgrown itself and octopused to the other spaces. 2013, Jesse Hayworth, Jessica Andersen, Summer at Mustang Ridge
3. To plug a large number of devices into a single electric outlet.
   If they're all for a single indoor tree, caution against "octopusing" of cords from other cords, and the use of a number of cords in a single receptacle. 1963, Hardware Age - Volume 203, Issues 7-10, page 88
   By now, the reservation had electricity so THAT had to be octopussed out to the trailers too. 1985, Ted C. Williams, The Reservation, page 206
   The three electrical outlets I could see—though located six feet above the ground, beyond all their little reaches—were octopussed with what looked like more plugs than the circuits could handle. 2010, Arthur Nersesian, Mesopotamia, page 53
   It was an eight-channel audio recording snake, a bundled set of cables with eight plugs octopussing out of either end. 2011, Richard Sanders, Dead Heat, page 74
4. (by extension) To grow in use vastly beyond what was originally intended.
   The interlocking business organizations have octopussed beyond all imagining in recent years; they are intermingled with citizens' union-smashing committees and women's strikebreaking “patriotic” groups, such as Neutral Thousands and Women of the Pacific. 1937, Fight Against War and Fascism - Volumes 5-6, page 34
   The busy man will do two things at once in his office; and with a little forethought he can practise what psychologist Freeman calls "brain octopussing" at home, too. 1953, Dun's Review and Modern Industry, volume 62, August-December 1953, page 256
   The course of study should be rooted in a survey of the needs of the community and not "octopussed" from swivel chair courses of study prepared for other areas. 1978, William Edward Field, A Review of the Undergraduate Program in Agricultural Education at the University of Minnesota, 1977, page 349
   The performance of it, however, did not improve, being octopussed by centuries-old not-to-move bureaucracy. 1993, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, Growth and development of small enterprise, page 92
   Judging by the way that Boots was octopussing himself into the world of the stud farm and mastering the intricacies of thoroughbred financing, he was well on his way to raping Sport of Kings. 2000, Murray Bromberg, The Wagers of Sin, page 102
5. To hunt and catch octopuses.
   The sport could be called octopusing or octopus hunting— and any number may play. Supposing you catch an octopus, what do you have? 1956, Travel - Volume 105, page 46
   CRABBING AND OCTOPUSSING: Use the same method whether you skindive for crabs and octopi or gather them intertidally. 1977, Peter Howorth, Foraging Along the California Coast, Capra Press, page 97
   The municipal council assigned food quotas to each section and family contributions within sections. People spent the days before the visit fishing, octopusing, digging taro, cooking, and cleaning public spaces. 1993, Poyer Lin, NGATIK MASSACRE PB, page 163
6. To behave like an octopus.
   Night fell especially dark and cold for August, inky blackness tendrilling in, octopussing even the street lamps, now dim with vague form. 1995, Donald A. Weatherby, The Star-Spangled Specter, page 77
   “Strangled in the middle of the night by one of Molly's eight legs.” “Mo-om!” Molly kicked Robin in the shins. “Owww!” Robin lunged against the door. “I've been octopused!” 2009, Becky Citra, Whiteout, page 20
   It was quite a conincidence for a mechanical sea creature and he was speculating whether it could possibly have been done on purpose when Katsu stole his other sock and flopped on to the floor with an unbiological bang, whereupon it octopused out of the open door and slid down the banister. 2015, Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street