locust
(noun) migratory grasshoppers of warm regions having short antennae
locust
(noun) hardwood from any of various locust trees
Source: WordNet® 3.1
locust (plural locusts)
Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, (especially) the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria). [from 14th c.]
(now, historical) A fruit or pod of the carob tree. [from 16th c.]
Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; the locust tree. [from 17th c.]
A cicada. [from 18th c.]
(Hong Kong, derogatory, offensive) A Mainlander.
• sometimes confused with locus
American locust (Schistocerca americana)
Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera)
Bombay locust (Nomadacris succincta)
brown locust (Locustana pardalina)
desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)
Italian locust (Calliptamus italicus)
migratory locust (Locusta migratoria)
Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)
red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)
Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) (extinct)
spur-throated locust (Austracris guttulosa), of Australia
tree locust (Anacridium spp.)
Anacridium aegyptium (Egyptian locust).
Anacridium melanorhodon, of Africa.
Anacridium wernerellum, of Africa.
locust (third-person singular simple present locusts, present participle locusting, simple past and past participle locusted)
(intransitive) To come in a swarm.
• clouts
Source: Wiktionary
Lo"cust, n. Etym: [L. locusta locust, grasshopper. Cf. Lobster.]
1. (Zoƶl.)
Definition: Any one of numerous species of long-winged, migratory, orthopterous insects, of the family AcrididƦ, allied to the grasshoppers; esp., (Edipoda, or Pachytylus, migratoria, and Acridium perigrinum, of Southern Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the United States the related species with similar habits are usually called grasshoppers. See Grasshopper.
Note: These insects are at times so numerous in Africa and the south of Asia as to devour every green thing; and when they migrate, they fly in an immense cloud. In the United States the harvest flies are improperly called locusts. See Cicada. Locust beetle (Zoƶl.), a longicorn beetle (Cyllene robiniƦ), which, in the larval state, bores holes in the wood of the locust tree. Its color is brownish black, barred with yellow. Called also locust borer.
– Locust bird (Zoƶl.) the rose-colored starling or pastor of India. See Pastor.
– Locust hunter (Zoƶl.), an African bird; the beefeater.
2. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.] (Bot.)
Definition: The locust tree. See Locust Tree (definition, note, and phrases). Locust bean (Bot.), a commercial name for the sweet pod of the carob tree.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
28 March 2025
(noun) a person who invites guests to a social event (such as a party in his or her own home) and who is responsible for them while they are there
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be ādancingā after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. Thatās how the first coffee drink was born.
