insect


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in·sect

 (ĭn′sĕkt′)
n.
1.
a. Any of numerous arthropod animals of the class Insecta, having an adult stage characterized by three pairs of legs and a body segmented into head, thorax, and abdomen and usually having one or two pairs of wings. Insects include the flies, crickets, mosquitoes, beetles, butterflies, and bees.
b. Any of various other small, chiefly arthropod animals, such as spiders, centipedes, or ticks, usually having many legs. Not in scientific use.
2. An insignificant or contemptible person.

[Latin īnsectum, from neuter past participle of īnsecāre, to cut up (translation of Greek entomon, segmented, cut up, insect) : in-, in; see in-2 + secāre, to cut; see sek- in Indo-European roots.]

in′sect′ adj.
in′sec·ti′val (ĭn′sĕk-tī′vəl) 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.

insect

(ˈɪnsɛkt)
n
1. (Animals) any small air-breathing arthropod of the class Insecta, having a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of legs, and (in most species) two pairs of wings. Insects comprise about five sixths of all known animal species, with a total of over one million named species.
2. (Animals) (loosely) any similar invertebrate, such as a spider, tick, or centipede
3. a contemptible, loathsome, or insignificant person
[C17: from Latin insectum (animal that has been) cut into, insect, from insecāre, from in-2 + secāre to cut; translation of Greek entomon insect]
inˈsectean, inˈsectan, inˈsectile adj
ˈinsect-ˌlike adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

in•sect

(ˈɪn sɛkt)

n.
1. any animal of the class Insecta, comprising small, air-breathing arthropods having the body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and having two antennae, three pairs of legs, and usu. two pairs of wings.
2. any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to members of the class Insecta.
3. a contemptible or unimportant person.
adj.
4. of, pertaining to, like, or used for or against insects: an insect bite; insect powder.
[1595–1605; < Latin insecāre to incise, cut (compare segment); translation of Greek éntomon insect, literally, notched or incised one; see entomo-]
in`sec•ti′val (-ˈtaɪ vəl) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

in·sect

(ĭn′sĕkt′)
Any of numerous small arthropods that have six segmented legs in the adult stage and a body divided into three parts. The three parts are the head, thorax, and abdomen, and the thorax often has a pair of wings. Flies, bees, grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies, and moths are all insects. More than 600,000 species are known, most of them beetles. See Notes at biomass, bug, entomology.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

insect

, spider, crustacean - One major difference between insects, spiders, and crustaceans is the antennae; most insects have one pair, spiders have none, and crustaceans have two pairs.
See also related terms for spider.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.insect - small air-breathing arthropodinsect - small air-breathing arthropod  
Arthropoda, phylum Arthropoda - jointed-foot invertebrates: arachnids; crustaceans; insects; millipedes; centipedes
arthropod - invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body with an exoskeleton made of chitin
clypeus - a shield-like plate on the front of an insect's head
wing - a movable organ for flying (one of a pair)
ala - a wing of an insect
social insect - an insect that lives in a colony with other insects of the same species
ephemeral, ephemeron - anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
holometabola, metabola - insects that undergo complete metamorphosis
defoliator - an insect that strips the leaves from plants
pollinator - an insect that carries pollen from one flower to another
gallfly - any of various insects that deposit their eggs in plants causing galls in which the larvae feed
mecopteran - any of various carnivorous insects of the order Mecoptera
collembolan, springtail - any of numerous minute wingless primitive insects possessing a special abdominal appendage that allows the characteristic nearly perpetual springing pattern; found in soil rich in organic debris or on the surface of snow or water
proturan, telsontail - any of several minute primitive wingless and eyeless insects having a cone-shaped head; inhabit damp soil or decaying organic matter
beetle - insect having biting mouthparts and front wings modified to form horny covers overlying the membranous rear wings
web spinner - any of a small order of slender typically tropical insects that nest in colonies in silken tunnels that they spin
louse, sucking louse - wingless usually flattened bloodsucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals
bird louse, biting louse, louse - wingless insect with mouth parts adapted for biting; mostly parasitic on birds
flea - any wingless bloodsucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap
dipteran, dipteron, dipterous insect, two-winged insects - insects having usually a single pair of functional wings (anterior pair) with the posterior pair reduced to small knobbed structures and mouth parts adapted for sucking or lapping or piercing
leaf miner, leaf-miner - any of various small moths or dipterous flies whose larvae burrow into and feed on leaf tissue especially of the family Gracilariidae
hymenopter, hymenopteran, hymenopteron, hymenopterous insect - insects having two pairs of membranous wings and an ovipositor specialized for stinging or piercing
worker - sterile member of a colony of social insects that forages for food and cares for the larvae
termite, white ant - whitish soft-bodied ant-like social insect that feeds on wood
orthopteran, orthopteron, orthopterous insect - any of various insects having leathery forewings and membranous hind wings and chewing mouthparts
phasmid, phasmid insect - large cylindrical or flattened mostly tropical insects with long strong legs that feed on plants; walking sticks and leaf insects
dictyopterous insect - cockroaches and mantids
bug - general term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate
hemipteran, hemipteron, hemipterous insect, bug - insects with sucking mouthparts and forewings thickened and leathery at the base; usually show incomplete metamorphosis
heteropterous insect - true bugs: insects whose forewings are membranous but have leathery tips
homopteran, homopterous insect - insects having membranous forewings and hind wings
psocopterous insect - small soft-bodied insect with chewing mouthparts and either no wings or two pairs
ephemerid, ephemeropteran - short-lived insect
plecopteran, stone fly, stonefly - primitive winged insect with a flattened body; used as bait by fishermen; aquatic gilled larvae are carnivorous and live beneath stones
neuropteran, neuropteron, neuropterous insect - insect having biting mouthparts and four large membranous wings with netlike veins
odonate - large primitive predatory aquatic insect having two pairs of membranous wings
thysanuran insect, thysanuron - primitive wingless insects: bristletail
thysanopter, thysanopteron, thysanopterous insect - an insect of the order Thysanoptera
earwig - any of numerous insects of the order Dermaptera having elongate bodies and slender many-jointed antennae and a pair of large pincers at the rear of the abdomen
2.insect - a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect
disagreeable person, unpleasant person - a person who is not pleasant or agreeable
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

insect

noun bug, creepy-crawly (Brit. informal), gogga (S. African informal)
Related words
adjective entomic
collective noun swarm
like entomomania
fear entomophobia
see ants, bees and wasps, beetles, bugs, butterflies and moths, flies

Insects

Types of insect  apple maggot, body louse, cootie (U.S. & N.Z.), or (N.Z. slang) kutu, bollworm, booklouse, bookworm, bristletail, cabbageworm, caddis worm or caseworm, cankerworm, cochineal or cochineal insect, cockroach, cotton stainer, crab (louse), cricket, earwig, or (Scot. dialect) clipshears, or clipshear, flea, German cockroach or (U.S.) Croton bug, grasshopper, katydid, lac insect, locust, louse, mantis or praying mantis, measuring worm, looper, or inchworm, midge, mole cricket, mosquito, nit, phylloxera, scale insect, seventeen-year locust or periodical cicada, sheep ked or sheep tick, silkworm, silverfish, stick insect or (U.S. & Canad.) walking stick, sucking louse, tent caterpillar, thrips, treehopper, wax insect, web spinner, weta, wheel bug, wireworm, woodworm
Parts of insects  acetabulum, air sac, antenna, arista, cercus, cirrus, clasper, clypeus, compound eye, corium, coxa, elytron, endocuticle, epicuticle, exocuticle, femur, flagellum, forewing, glossa, gonopod, hamulus, haustellum, hemelytron, ileum, jaw, labium, labrum, ligula, Malpighian tubule, mandible, maxilla, mesothorax, metathorax, notum, ocellus, ovipositor, pedicel, proboscis, proleg, pronotum, prosternum, prothorax, proventriculus, pulvillus, scape, scutellum, scutum, snout, spinneret, spiracle, stigma, tarsus, tegmen, thigh, thorax, tibia, trachea, trochanter, underwing, ventriculus
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
حشرةحَشَرَةٌحَشَرَه
hmyz
insekt
insekto
حشره
hyönteinen
kukac
rovar
serangga
skordýrskordÿr
昆虫
곤충
insectum
vabzdysvabzdžiaėdisvabzdžius atbaidantis chemikalasinsekticidas
insektskukainis
žuželka
insekt
mdudu
แมลง
комаха
côn trùngsâu bọ

insect

[ˈɪnsekt]
A. Ninsecto m (fig) → bicho m
B. CPD insect bite Npicadura f de insecto
insect powder Ninsecticida m en polvo
insect repellent Nrepelente m contra insectos
insect spray Ninsecticida m en aerosol
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

insect

[ˈɪnsɛkt] ninsecte minsect bite npiqûre f d'insecte
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

insect

nInsekt nt

insect

:
insect bite
insect eater
insect-eating plant

insect

:
insect powder
nInsektenpulver nt
insect repellent
insect-repellent
adjinsektenvertreibend
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

insect

[ˈɪnsɛkt] ninsetto
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

insect

(ˈinsekt) noun
any of many kinds of small six-legged creatures with wings and a body divided into sections. We were bothered by flies, wasps and other insects.
insecticide (inˈsektisaid) noun
a substance (usually in powder or liquid form) for killing insects.
ˌinsecˈtivorous (-ˈtivərəs) adjective
(of plants or animals) feeding (mainly) on insects.
ˈinsect repellent noun
a chemical preparation that repels insects.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

insect

حَشَرَةٌ hmyz insekt Insekt έντομο insecto hyönteinen insecte kukac insetto 昆虫 곤충 insect insekt owad inseto насекомое insekt แมลง böcek côn trùng 昆虫
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

insect

n. insecto.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
Collins Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

insect

n insecto
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
Every evening after dark this great concert commenced; and often have I sat listening to it, until my attention has been drawn away by some curious passing insect.
[4] I found that this insect emitted the most brilliant flashes when irritated: in the intervals, the abdominal rings were obscured.
'What kind of insect?' Alice inquired a little anxiously.
"'Then,' said the Professor, 'I will get out my famous magnifying-glass and throw the insect upon a screen in a highly-magnified condition, that you may all study carefully its peculiar construction and become acquainted with its habits and manner of life.'
What a struggle between the several kinds of trees must here have gone on during long centuries, each annually scattering its seeds by the thousand; what war between insect and insect--between insects, snails, and other animals with birds and beasts of prey--all striving to increase, and all feeding on each other or on the trees or their seeds and seedlings, or on the other plants which first clothed the ground and thus checked the growth of the trees!
While we were lying there against the warm bank, a little insect of the palest, frailest green hopped painfully out of the buffalo grass and tried to leap into a bunch of bluestem.
Some tramp's been in, that's all; and as for the no footmarks, and the bricks and the sand being all right--why, your eyes are pretty much like a insect's, Master Marner; they're obliged to look so close, you can't see much at a time.
It is the insect with black claws, and the awful word which I wish to retain in my imagination in all its purity and all its importance."
I want now to tell you, gentlemen, whether you care to hear it or not, why I could not even become an insect. I tell you solemnly, that I have many times tried to become an insect.
for, should these insects alight, it will be laid waste."
They observed by my teeth, which they viewed with great exactness, that I was a carnivorous animal; yet most quadrupeds being an overmatch for me, and field mice, with some others, too nimble, they could not imagine how I should be able to support myself, unless I fed upon snails and other insects, which they offered, by many learned arguments, to evince that I could not possibly do.
that I, who can wage war successfully with the hugest beasts, should perish myself from this spider, the most inconsiderable of insects!"