polyppedunculate polyp (top) and sessile polyp (bottom) in a section of large intestinepol·yp (p?l??p)n.1. A body form of a cnidarian, such as a hydra or coral, that is cylindrical in shape, has a mouth usually surrounded by tentacles at one end, and is often attached to something at the other end.2. A usually nonmalignant growth or tumor protruding from the mucous lining of an organ such as the nose, bladder, or intestine, sometimes causing obstruction.[Middle English polip, nasal tumor, from Old French polipe, from Latin p?lypus, cuttlefish, nasal tumor, from Greek polupous, poulupous : polu-, poly- + pous, foot; see ped- in Indo-European roots.]pol?yp·oid? adj.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.polyp (?p?l?p) n1. (Zoology) zoology one of the two forms of individual that occur in coelenterates. It usually has a hollow cylindrical body with a ring of tentacles around the mouth. Compare medusa22. (Pathology) pathol Also called: polypus a small vascularized growth arising from the surface of a mucous membrane, having a rounded base or a stalklike projection[C16 polip, from French polype nasal polyp, from Latin p?lypus sea animal, nasal polyp, from Greek polupous having many feet] ?polypous adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014pol?yp (?p?l ?p) n. 1. the cylindrical body form in the life cycle of a jellyfish, sea anemone, or other cnidarian, having stinging tentacles around the mouth and usu. having the opposite end attached to a surface. Compare medusa. 2. the individual zooid of a colonial organism, as the bryozoan. 3. a projecting growth from a mucous surface, as of the nose, being either a tumor or a hypertrophy of the mucous membrane. [1350?1400; Middle English polip, short for polipus nasal tumor