locust
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈləʊ.kəst/
ipa: /ˈloʊ.kəst/
rhymes: -əʊkəst
rhymes: -oʊkəst
Forms: form: locusts
Etymology: From Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locusta (“locust, crustacean, lobster”). Doublet of langouste.
The tree sense, 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).
The sense in "Mainlander" is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 /蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust".
Senses: glosses: 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).
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 9, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:
glosses: A fruit or pod of a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua).
glosses: Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; locust tree.
glosses: A cicada.
glosses: A Mainlander.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
glosses: A dose of laudanum.
Derived terms: taxonomic: Parkia spp.
alt: esp. P. africana
word: African locust
taxonomic: Schistocerca americana
word: American locust
word: antilocust
word: Australian plague locust
word: bald locust
taxonomic: Robinia pseudoacacia
word: black locust
taxonomic: Nomadacris succincta
word: Bombay locust
taxonomic: Robinia hispida
word: bristly locust
taxonomic: Locustana pardalina
word: brown locust
taxonomic: Mantis spp.
word: camel locust
taxonomic: Dissosteira carolina
word: Carolina locust
taxonomic: Stenopelmatidae spp.
word: cave locust
taxonomic: Robinia viscosa
word: clammy locust
taxonomic: Schistocerca gregaria
word: desert locust
taxonomic: Melanoplus differentialis
word: differential locust
taxonomic: Anacridium aegyptium
word: Egyptian locust
taxonomic: Tetrigidae spp.
word: grouse locust
taxonomic: Gleditsia triacanthos
word: honey locust
word: hoofed locust
taxonomic: Calliptamus italicus
word: Italian locust
alt: Robina kelseyi
word: Kelsey locust
word: kosher locust
word: locustal
word: locust bean
taxonomic: Megacyllene robiniae
word: locust borer
word: locustlike
word: locust stick
taxonomic: Locusta migratoria
word: migratory locust
taxonomic: Amorpha californica
word: mock locust
taxonomic: Dociostaurus maroccanus
word: Moroccan locust
word: moss locust
taxonomic: Robinia hispida
word: mossy locust
word: New Mexican locust
taxonomic: Robinia mexicana
word: New Mexico locust
taxonomic: Chortoicetes terminifera
alt: Austroicetes cruciata
word: plague locust
taxonomic: Robinia pseudoacacia
word: post locust
taxonomic: Mantis spp.
alt: esp. M. religiosa
word: praying locust
taxonomic: Tetrigidae spp.
word: pygmy locust
taxonomic: Melanoplus femur-rubrum
word: red-legged locust
taxonomic: Nomadacris septemfasciata
word: red locust
taxonomic: Amorpha fruticosa
word: river locust
alt: †Melanoplus spretus
word: Rocky Mountain locust
taxonomic: Robinia viscosa
word: rose-flowering locust
taxonomic: Magicicada spp.
word: seventeen-year locust
taxonomic: Robinia pseudoacacia rectissima
word: shipmast locust
taxonomic: Robinia pseudoacacia
word: spotted locust
alt: Austracris guttulosa
word: spur-throated locust
word: of Australia
taxonomic: Gleditsia aquatica
word: swamp locust
taxonomic: Gleditsia triacanthos
word: sweet locust
taxonomic: Magicicada spp.
word: thirteen-year locust
word: thorn locust
taxonomic: Gleditsia triacanthos
word: thorny locust
taxonomic: Anacridium spp.
word: tree locust
taxonomic: Gleditsia aquatica
word: water locust
taxonomic: Hymenaea courbaril
word: West Indian locust
taxonomic: Ceratonia siliqua
word: white locust
taxonomic: Robinia pseudoacacia
word: yellow locust