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insect

[in-sekt]

Example Sentences Origin

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noun

any animal of the class Insecta, comprising small, air-breathing arthropods having the body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and having three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of wings.

any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to the insects. Compare arachnid.

a contemptible or unimportant person.

Insect Definition Dictionary.com Find Definitions For Any Word.Get Your Free Dictionary.com Toolbar.

adjective

of, pertaining to, like, or used for or against insects: an insect bite; insect powder.

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Insect is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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Origin:
1595–1605; < Latin insectum, noun use of neuter of insectus past participle of insecāre to incise, cut (compare segment); translation of Greek éntomon insect, literally, notched or incised one; see entomo-

Related forms

in·sec·ti·val

[in-sek-tahy-vuhl] , adjective

non·in·sect, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To insect

Example Sentences

But few scientists have tried to see whether bats have a discernible influence on insect populations.

So selection can show how the caste members of social insect societies can be different and adapted to their various roles.

If you force-feed an insect with an insecticide, it may well die.

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But few scientists have tried to see whether bats have a discernible influence on insect populations.

So selection can show how the caste members of social insect societies can be different and adapted to their various roles.

If you force-feed an insect with an insecticide, it may well die.

Engineered for survival, insect eggs hang on and hatch wherever their parents deposit them.

Scientists have identified the oldest known insect from its fossilized jaw remains.

The insect is caught by the mucilage, then the sundew digests it.

There are no disease or insect pests worth mentioning.

For people in tropical areas where insect repellents and insecticides control mosquito-borne disease, it's a pressing concern.

Insect bites and stings can cause an immediate skin reaction.

Like the insect that shed its before on the sand, and unstuck its wings, two pair.

Previous studies have shown that losing a few key workers can destroy an insect society.

But if he doesn't get away fast enough, she'll turn him into insect soup.

Scientists have discovered that certain caterpillars manufacture and secrete their own insect repellent, a new study shows.

It's not everyday that insect folks provide commentary on art.

To attract woodpeckers and other insect eaters, put up a suet feeder.

Researchers hooked a series of six electrodes up to the brain and muscles of the insect.

In the insect world, different species can resemble each other, even though they are not the same genetically.

The value of bats for insect control is slowly gaining much deserved public recognition.

With rare exceptions, such as bees and silkworms, the insect world is a source of pests rather than of pets or pack animals.

DeVries said he has been fascinated by the insect world since he was a young child of four or five.

The body swells up to six times its normal size-from a flat insect to football-shaped.

The rig's perforated red beams resemble a giant segmented insect.

Compost only plant debris that's free of disease, insect pests, and weeds.

The research focuses on the flight of the pestilent locust, an insect renowned for its efficient flying style.

In this country, one of the best known accounts of insect heroism occurred nearly a century ago.

Education is different from roads and insect irradication.

Or make a plant insect-proof, and you are damned for encouraging a more resistant strain of insect.

Most people wouldn't get excited by an inch-long insect crawling on a rock.

Egt is manipulating the insect to die in the right location to transmit the virus to new hosts.

Any thought that it might have been an insect eater.

Nearly devoid of insect and disease problems, it's also unfazed by polluted air.

To check state of dryness, try crushing insect with a spoon.

The senators danced and bounced around, some rejoicing in a victory over gambling, some bidding adieu to the insect invaders.

To feed, black widows puncture their insect prey with their fangs and administer digestive enzymes to the corpses.

The findings may hold the key to developing new, environmentally friendly insect repellents.

The bats migrate there in the summer and are considered a major insect exterminator.

During prolonged dry spells, wash occasionally with hose to clean leaves and to lessen insect attack.

Explores insect species and shows how they live, work and communicate.

Part of the answer is an insect called the potato psyllid.

What you see in the accompanying photo gallery are the eggs of a few small branches of the insect tree of life.

Researchers hope to exploit this behavior for insect control.

So come learn who in the insect world is a good friend and neighbor to invite into your own backyard haven.

Apricots are subject to various other diseases and insect pests.

Insect bites that itch, turn red and swell are a common malady of the summer.

The two insect lines, for example, share two-thirds of their genes.

As the leaves flip, they snap together, trapping an insect inside.

Both fruits are generally sprayed with pesticides to prevent insect infestation and usually washed before shipment.

Codling moth is the universal insect pest of apples.

The insect population is on the march and will gradually increase during the next few months.

They would tell him, falsely, that the insect was dangerous.

Humanity's indispensable insect ally is facing an array of threats, many man-made.

As you can see, this olive has a rotten area where an insect wiggled out.

Scientists have long known that insect pests often travel vast distances before dropping down to prey on farm crops.

Such benevolence is not unique to humans but exists also in complex insect societies.

But insect wings flap and bend, and mapping the flow of air around moving boundaries takes an enormous leap in complexity.

Although they do not represent actual bugs, they suggest the remnants of insect activity.

So are the development times of various insect larvae.

Miniature vessel mimics insect larvae by using surface tension for propulsion.

Insect repellents are standard summer equipment in beach bags and backyards.

Some offerings contain inedible plant seeds or empty insect exoskeletons.

Here's how your average insect winds up buried in amber.

The record for world's smallest genome has been smashed by a bacterium that lives inside a sap-feeding insect.

The insect should suffocate and may float out in the oil.

Please share the country so the rest of us insect wimps can also avoid.

The alder leaf is full of holes caused by a marauding insect and is not the sort you would collect and.

He has a lot of intricate insect origami on his website, but what caught my.

Mosquitoes are to be feared more than any other insect because of all the deadly infectious agents vectored by them.

Supplements composed of insect protein could be added to processed food and perhaps also to animal feed.

Some insect species are able to swim underwater because of the personal air bubbles they carry with them.

Finally, the parasite returns to a mosquito when the insect bites an infected person.

The insect darts from each swipe with uncanny precision, altering its course to zip off in nearly the opposite direction.

As the insect drives its wing upward, it has the option of using another mechanism to gain lift--wake capture.

Scientists suspect that the insect ingests either an infected mosquito or water containing hairworm larvae.

He points to the emergence of eusociality in insect species that don't possess.

With insect wings, as with so much in life, it's the details that count.

The oldest known full-body impression of a flying insect has been discovered, a new study says.

The writer, a mother of two, complains about the insect exhibit that sits on the reference desk on the children's floor.

Birds remove insect pests from the backs of rhinos and warn of danger.

She creates tiny sculptures using dried insect remains, plant roots, taxidermy and other organic materials.

It keeps the tender insect moist, and it provides protection by hiding a small insect in a large disguise.

In nature, many plants have evolved the ability to synthesize chemicals that protect them from damage by certain insect species.

By deriving such economic estimates, the researchers hope to raise interest in insect conservation.

Expedited removal of insect eaters and natural plant propagators from the biological ecosystem will upset the natural balance.

When another mosquito bites, the parasite flows into the new insect with the blood.

It seemed the sun would soon warm the day and the tiny insect would be on its way.

New studies of bat and insect numbers bolster claims that organic farms are havens for wildlife.

Researchers have sequenced key genomes, discovered an entirely new order of insect and probed the outer.

Riley said, to come up with a system that worked efficiently and was small enough for the insect to carry.

These biological or non-chemcial controls are becoming popular alternatives for insect management.

Otherwise evolution will proceed once more starting from the rats and insect population that will survive our foolish greed.

The zoo needs an insect expert to find the missing creatures.

Don't mistake this lanky insect for a plain old stick.

Simple insect repellent will help cavers avoid tick bites.

It is ironic to think that man might determine his own future by something so seemingly trivial as the choice of an insect spray.

Today when databases are as instant as coffee, and as numerous as insect species.

Disney guests were being urged to cover up and use insect repellent if they went outdoors at twilight.

If so, possibly this insect inadvertently pollinated these plants as well.

Plants that grow in the more fertile red-clay soils have fewer insect defenses but grow faster than insects can eat them.

Today, sadly, almost all the insect life that captivated me as a child is gone.

There is no splash of surf, no whisper of wind, no hum of insect or avian life.

Previous studies have shown that international flights are a significant factor in unwelcome insect invasion.

Even the insect kingdom might be recruited to attack the problem.

Loxdale hadn't previously heard of a parasite that drives an insect to suicide.

We produce tears in response to insults to the eyes-the sting of onion fumes, a tiny insect that flew into your cornea.

The biggest threat to scarabs is not insect hobbyists but loss of habitat as tropical forests are converted to farms.

The sting is usually no more harmful than an insect bite, but reaction to the toxin can vary greatly.

Swelling is the normal reaction to an insect bite or sting.

There's a universe of insect activity hidden below this beetle's wings.

When an insect strikes the web, the stretching of the matrix enables the web to absorb the kinetic energy of the insect¿s flight.

He wasn't one for using any kind of insect repellent.

Veasy was sitting last night on the porch of the cottage when a large insect came sailing up to her in the semi.

May noted they have huge eyes, which they use to detect their insect prey.

The length of time that a wasp larva manipulated a ladybug into protecting its cocoon also varied from insect to insect.

If you're hungry, you can probably find an insect nearby.

But ounce for ounce, this insect is considered the.

Monarchs are also threatened by insecticides and other methods used to control insect pests.

In fact, spiders suffer a surprising amount of insect predation.

Learn about how one insect depends on hearing to stay alive.

Rain forests have more insect species than any other ecosystem.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

insect (ˈɪnsɛkt)

—n
1.	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 speciesRelated: entomic
2.	(loosely) any similar invertebrate, such as a spider, tick, or centipede
3.	a contemptible, loathsome, or insignificant person

Related: entomic

[C17: from Latin insectum (animal that has been) cut into, insect, from insecāre, from in-² + secāre to cut; translation of Greek entomon insect]

in'sectean

—*adj*

in'sectan

—*adj*

in'sectile

—*adj*

'insect-like

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

insect

c.1600, from L. insectum (animal) "(animal) with a notched or divided body," lit. "cut into," from neuter pp. of insectare "to cut into, to cut up," from in- "into" + secare "to cut" (see section). Pliny's loan-translation of Gk. entomon "insect" (see

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entomology), Aristotle's term for this class of life, in ref. to their "notched" bodies. First in English in 1601 in Holland's translation of Pliny. Translations of Aristotle's term also form the usual word for "insect" in Welsh (trychfil, from trychu "cut" + mil "animal"), Serbo-Cr. (zareznik, from rezati "cut"), Rus. (nasekomoe, from sekat "cut"), etc. Insecticide first recorded 1865.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

insect in·sect (ĭn'sěkt')
n.

Any of numerous usually small 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 two pairs of wings.
Any of various similar arthropod animals, such as spiders, centipedes, or ticks.

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

insect (ĭn'sěkt') Pronunciation Key
Any of very numerous, mostly small arthropods of the class Insecta, having six segmented legs in the adult stage and a body divided into three parts (the head, thorax, and abdomen). The head has a pair of antennae and the thorax usually has one or two pairs of wings. Most insects undergo substantial change in form during development from the young to the adult stage. More than 800,000 species are known, most of them beetles. Other insects include flies, bees, ants, grasshoppers, butterflies, cockroaches, aphids, and silverfish. See Notes at biomass , bug , entomology.

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