Illustration of newt
newt
noun
ˈnüt 
ˈnyüt
: any of various small salamanders (family Salamandridae) that are usually semiaquatic as adults
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The Pacific newt is populous in this part of the state, but high roadkill rates abound in the North and South Bay. 
Gwendolyn Wu, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Feb. 2022 The little brown newt slithered its way across the muddy trail, making a morning trek back from the shallows of the lake. oregonlive, 29 Jan. 2022 There was no bubbling cauldron or eye of newt or toe of frog involved. Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2021 Up the road, a monitor lizard, a creature more crocodile than newt, lumbered across the tarmac, with little traffic to impede its crossing. New York Times, 25 Apr. 2021 Careful observers on creek-side trails may see the orange-bellied California newt, a squishy member of the salamander family. Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2021 The next road-crosser that night was a juvenile eastern newt, the length of a finger and luminously orange under headlamps. Brandon Keim, New York Times, 18 May 2020 Unlike the long, narrowing tails of land-living dinosaurs, Spinosaurus’ rearmost appendage seemed built to whip back and forth like that of a crocodile or a newt—a theory that seemed borne out when the researchers modeled its motion in a water tank. Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Apr. 2020 People have been obsessed with amphibians for hundreds of years, from the witches in Macbeth brewing up eye of newt (spoiler: not actually newt eyeballs), to ancient Egyptians worshipping frogs. Jessica Boddy, Popular Science, 22 Apr. 2020 See More
Gwendolyn Wu, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 Feb. 2022 The little brown newt slithered its way across the muddy trail, making a morning trek back from the shallows of the lake. oregonlive, 29 Jan. 2022 There was no bubbling cauldron or eye of newt or toe of frog involved. Josh Rottenberg, Los Angeles Times, 11 Nov. 2021 Up the road, a monitor lizard, a creature more crocodile than newt, lumbered across the tarmac, with little traffic to impede its crossing. New York Times, 25 Apr. 2021 Careful observers on creek-side trails may see the orange-bellied California newt, a squishy member of the salamander family. Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2021 The next road-crosser that night was a juvenile eastern newt, the length of a finger and luminously orange under headlamps. Brandon Keim, New York Times, 18 May 2020 Unlike the long, narrowing tails of land-living dinosaurs, Spinosaurus’ rearmost appendage seemed built to whip back and forth like that of a crocodile or a newt—a theory that seemed borne out when the researchers modeled its motion in a water tank. Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Apr. 2020 People have been obsessed with amphibians for hundreds of years, from the witches in Macbeth brewing up eye of newt (spoiler: not actually newt eyeballs), to ancient Egyptians worshipping frogs. Jessica Boddy, Popular Science, 22 Apr. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, alteration (resulting from misdivision of an ewte) of ewte — more at eft
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
newt
noun
ˈnüt
ˈnyüt
: a small salamander that often lives on land but lays eggs in water