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/ˈɪnsˌɛkt/ Listen

noun

Insect n.

(Zool.) One of the Insecta; esp., one of the Hexapoda. See Insecta. Note: The hexapod insects pass through three stages during their growth, viz., the larva, pupa, and imago or adult, but in some of the orders the larva differs little from the imago, except in lacking wings, and the active pupa is very much like the larva, except in having rudiments of wings. In the higher orders, the larva is usually a grub, maggot, or caterpillar, totally unlike the adult, while the pupa is very different from both larva and imago and is inactive, taking no food.

(Zool.) Any air-breathing arthropod, as a spider or scorpion.

(Zool.) Any small crustacean. In a wider sense, the word is often loosely applied to various small invertebrates.

Fig.: Any small, trivial, or contemptible person or thing.

Insect powder,a powder used for the extermination of insects; esp., the powdered flowers of certain species of Pyrethrum, a genus now merged in Chrysanthemum. Called also Persian powder.

adjective

Insect adj.

Of or pertaining to an insect or insects.

Like an insect; small; mean; ephemeral.

See images of 'Insect'

Etymology of 'Insect'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Insect" Quotes from Famous Books

... kill me for just one little bite; what will you do to yourself now, for the heavy smack you have just given yourself?" "Oh, for that blow I bear no grudge," he replied, "for I never intended myself any harm; but as for you, you contemptible insect, who live by sucking human blood, I'd have borne a good deal more than that for the satisfaction of dashing the ...

— Aesop's Fables • Aesop

... conspicuous. The bubbles were slightly viscid, and in nearly every case there was a small fly pressed into the front end of the balloon, apparently as food for the Empis. In all cases they were dead. The balloon appears to be made while the insect is flying in the air. Those flying highest had the smallest balloons. The bubbles are probably produced by some modification of the anal organs. It is possible that the captured fly serves as a nucleus to begin the balloon on. One case of ...

— Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 3 (of 6) • Havelock Ellis

... at the dinner table he was subjected to annoyance similar to that which teased Uncle Toby—namely, the hovering of a bee about his head. To relieve himself from the tiny tormentor, he laid down his knife and fork, and attempted to beat off the insect with his hands. It soon flew out at the window; but behold! the laird's knife and fork had disappeared. They were searched for all over the table, and under the table; nowhere could they be found; but when their owner ...

— Chronicles of Strathearn • Various

... four Arabs who made a human ladder for a comrade to mount the wall. The man at the top fell. The next mounted, to be shot by Nevill from a watch-tower. The bullet pierced the fellow's leg, which was what Nevill wished, for he, who hated to rob even an insect of its life, aimed now invariably at arms or legs, never at any vital part. "All we want," he thought half guiltily, "is to disable the poor brutes. They must obey the marabout. We've no spite ...

— The Golden Silence • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... birds have been cited in support of the various flying theories that the house fly, as an example has been disregarded. We are prone to overlook the small insect, but it is, nevertheless, a sample which is just as potent to show the efficiency of wing surface as ...

— Aeroplanes • J. S. Zerbe***

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