INSECT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does insect mean? 

• INSECT (noun)
  The noun INSECT has 2 senses:

1. small air-breathing arthropod

2. a person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

  Familiarity information: INSECT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INSECT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small air-breathing arthropod

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("insect" is a kind of...):

arthropod (invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body with an exoskeleton made of chitin)

Meronyms (parts of "insect"):

ala (a wing of an insect)

mentum (a projection below the mouth of certain mollusks that resembles a chin)

thorax (part of an insect's body that bears the wings and legs)

air sac (any of the thin-walled extensions of the tracheae of insects)

clypeus (a shield-like plate on the front of an insect's head)

wing (a movable organ for flying (one of a pair))

Domain member category:

holometabolism; holometaboly (complete metamorphosis in insects)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "insect"):

neuropteran; neuropteron; neuropterous insect (insect having biting mouthparts and four large membranous wings with netlike veins)

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)

bug; hemipteran; hemipteron; hemipterous insect (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)

social insect (an insect that lives in a colony with other insects of the same species)

odonate (large primitive predatory aquatic insect having two pairs of membranous wings)

trichopteran; trichopteron; trichopterous insect (caddis fly)

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)

lepidopteran; lepidopteron; lepidopterous insect (insect that in the adult state has four wings more or less covered with tiny scales)

pupa (an insect in the inactive stage of development (when it is not feeding) intermediate between larva and adult)

imago (an adult insect produced after metamorphosis)

queen (the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs)

termite; white ant (whitish soft-bodied ant-like social insect that feeds on wood)

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)

orthopteran; orthopteron; orthopterous insect (any of various insects having leathery forewings and membranous hind wings and chewing mouthparts)

Holonyms ("insect" is a member of...):

Arthropoda; phylum Arthropoda (jointed-foot invertebrates: arachnids; crustaceans; insects; millipedes; centipedes)

cloud; swarm (a group of many things in the air or on the ground)

Derivation:

insectan (of or relating to the class Insecta)

Domain member category:

chirpy ((birds or insects) characterized by or tending to chirp)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who has a nasty or unethical character undeserving of respect

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dirt ball; insect; louse; worm

Hypernyms ("insect" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

 Context examples 

A drug used to treat allergies and relieve cough and itching caused by insect bites, sunburn, and poison oak or ivy.

(Diphenhydramine, NCI Dictionary)

To lower your risk when traveling in dengue-prone countries: • Wear insect repellent with DEET • Wear clothes that cover your arms, legs and feet • Close unscreened doors and windows

(Dengue, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

By infecting mosquitoes with a common bacterium, scientists have in trials reduced the ability of the insect to transmit dengue, chikungunya and other viral diseases by up to 79 per cent.

(Bacteria-infected mosquitoes slash dengue cases, SciDev.Net)

Oil from the flowers has been used in some cultures to treat certain medical problems, to keep insects away, and to wash in.

(English lavender, NCI Dictionary)

Using repellents is one of the most efficient ways to prevent disease transmission and discomfort associated with insect bites.

(Coconut Oil Compounds Repel Insects Better than DEET, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

The IL-1 signaling cascade represents a highly conserved response to pathogens through evolution, with homologs in insects and even in plants.

(IL1R Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The thick-walld muscular pouch, part of the digestive system of birds, insects and invertebrates, which is responsible for digestion.

(Gizzard, NCI Thesaurus)

The swelling of plant tissue due to parasitic fungi, insect parasites, or other biological, chemical or mechanical injuries.

(Gall, Food and Drug Administration)

It is characterized by an acute and chronic phase; in the acute phase patients may have fever, malaise, and swelling at the site of the insect bite.

(Chagas Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

The bacteria help to kill the insect and, importantly, secrete the antibiotic to keep competing bacteria away.

(A New Class of Antibiotics to Combat Drug Resistance, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)