1. invertebrate animal with 10 legs: an invertebrate animal with stalked eyes and five pairs of legs, one or more with pincers, attached to the thorax. Many decapods are marine crustaceans and they include shrimp, lobsters, and crabs. Order Decapoda.
2. invertebrate ocean animal with 10 tentacles: a ocean mollusk with ten tentacles, e.g. a cuttlefish or squid. Class Cephalopoda.
[Early 19th century. Via French décapode< modern Latin Decapoda, literally "ten legs"]
