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locust

noun

  1. type of insect
  2. variety of tree
L37132 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈləʊ.kəst/ / /ˈloʊ.kəst/

name

Etymology: Unknown.

  1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lek-der.? Latin locusta Anglo-Norman locustebor. Middle English locuste English locust Inherited from Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locustam (“locust, crustacean, lobster”, accusative of locusta). Doublet of langouste. Noun sense 3 (“kind of tree”), originally referring to the carob (compare locust bean), is based on the resemblance of the trees' beanlike seed pods to the insect and is likely a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís). Noun sense 5 (“mainlander”) is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 /蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".

  1. Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, especially migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria).
  2. A fruit or pod of a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua).

    Among other articles, they brought with them a great quantity of locusts, which are a kind of pulse, sweet and pleasant to the palate, and in shape resembling French beans, but longer.

  3. Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; locust tree.
  4. A cicada.
  5. A mainlander.
  6. A dose of laudanum.

    I took my flogging like a stone. If I had sung, some of the convicts would have given me some lush with a locust in it (laudanum hocussing), and when I was asleep would have given me a crack on the head that would have laid me straight.

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lek-der.? Latin locusta Anglo-Norman locustebor. Middle English locuste English locust Inherited from Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locustam (“locust, crustacean, lobster”, accusative of locusta). Doublet of langouste. Noun sense 3 (“kind of tree”), originally referring to the carob (compare locust bean), is based on the resemblance of the trees' beanlike seed pods to the insect and is likely a semantic loan from Ancient Greek ἀκρίς (akrís). Noun sense 5 (“mainlander”) is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 /蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".

  1. To come in a swarm.

    This Philip and the black-faced swarms of Spain, The hardest, cruellest people in the world, Come locusting upon us, eat us up, Confiscate lands, goods, money […]