cicada
noun
-ˈkä-;sī-ˈkā-
\
-ˈkä-
\
Definition of cicada
: any of a family (Cicadidae) of homopterous insects which have a stout body, wide blunt head, and large transparent wings and the males of which produce a loud buzzing noise usually by stridulation
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Examples of cicada in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
These insect parents resemble tiny cicadas, with transparent wings held over their bodies as mini-roofs. — Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, "Cool, rainy spring prompts alert for fire blight on Valley trees, plants | Idaho Statesman," 26 Apr. 2018 The nature of his wound was the clock-cicada winding down. — Richard Sandomir, New York Times, "Lucie Brock-Broido, Inventive Poet, Is Dead at 61," 10 Mar. 2018 The first sound is a cicada’s piercing shrill, which violently cuts out mid-chirp. — Carlos Valladares, San Francisco Chronicle, "Argentine director Lucrecia Martel to attend Berkeley retrospective of her work," 16 Apr. 2018 There are those who drift off by instructing their Amazon Alexa or Google Home to play recordings of babbling brooks and cicadas. — Stephanie Rosenbloom, New York Times, "Tools for Sleeping Well While Traveling," 30 Mar. 2018 The cacophony of Shahid’s cries and the cicada drone almost felled me. — Sorayya Khan, Longreads, "The Cities in Me," 8 Feb. 2018 And understandably so: To their many detractors, redistricting consultants surface every 10 years, cicada-like, to ravage the landscape of minority parties in state legislatures and Congress. — Michael Wines, New York Times, "Just How Bad Is Partisan Gerrymandering? Ask the Mapmakers," 29 Jan. 2018 Different species—there are some 3,000 cicada species in total—have different frequencies and patterns, enabling them to tell each other apart. — Liz Langley, National Geographic, "This Bug's Penis Is a Built-In Violin," 7 Oct. 2017 There are certain sounds that are distinctly Southern, like the hum of cicadas or the rumble of hot thunder every afternoon in the summer. — Katherine Owen, Southern Living, "8 Things Only Girls with Southern Accents Understand," 13 Sep. 2016These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cicada.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for cicada
cicada
noun
English Language Learners Definition of cicada
: a large insect
See the full definition for cicada in the English Language Learners Dictionary
cicada
noun
\
Kids Definition of cicada
: an insect that has transparent wings and a stout body and the males of which make a loud buzzing noise
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