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Members of a family of insects, cicadas have a stout body, wide blunt head, two pairs of transparent wings, prominent compound eyes, and three simple eyes. Most of the 1,500 known species are found in tropical deserts, grasslands, and forests. Males produce loud noises by vibrating membranes near the base of the abdomen. Most North. American cicadas produce rhythmical ticks, buzzes, or whines, though the "song" of some species is musical. Periodic cicadas, including the well-known 17-year cicada (often erroneously called the 17-year locust) and 13-year cicada appear in regular cycles. Their larvae burrow into the ground, where they remain for 13 or 17 years, feeding on juices sucked from roots. Then they emerge in large numbers to live aboveground as adults for a single week.
Examples of cicada in a Sentence
Taylor Johnston, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2025
What the responding cicadas don’t realize is that this apparent invitation comes with a fungal payload.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025
These obligations and responsibilities have become a shell, and the men underneath them need to emerge, soft and vulnerable, like cicadas crawling out of the underworld and shedding their exoskeletons.
—Jessa Crispin, Harpers Magazine, 26 Mar. 2025
Some people think that three or four cicadas count.
—Mary Carole McCauley, Baltimore Sun, 13 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Cicada.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cicada. Accessed 4 May. 2025.
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