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locust

noun
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lo·​cust | \ ˈlō-kəst How to pronounce locust (audio) \

Definition of locust

1 : short-horned grasshopper especially : a migratory grasshopper often traveling in vast swarms and stripping the areas passed of all vegetation
2 : cicada
3a : any of various leguminous trees: such as
(1) : carob sense 1
(2) : black locust
(3) : honey locust
b : the wood of a locust tree

Examples of locust in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The locust swarms hang like shimmering dark clouds on the horizon in some places. — Elias Meseret, BostonGlobe.com, "Locust outbreak, most serious in 25 years, hits East Africa," 17 Jan. 2020 Weather patterns and historical locust records help experts predict where swarms might form. — National Geographic, "Development of a plague," 16 Jan. 2020 In January 1880, a 22-year-old African-American man named George Peck was dragged out of a store in Montgomery County, Maryland, blindfolded, and hanged from a locust tree in front of a Presbyterian church. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "A Maryland Community Gathered to Remember the Lynching of George Peck," 5 Nov. 2019 Caporicci rounds out his ice cream base with an extra dose of protein from milk powder and a carb trio of guar, locust and xanthan gums. — Ali Bouzari, SFChronicle.com, "The molecular science behind a Larkspur shop’s blueberry ice cream," 27 Sep. 2019 ADDIS ABABA — Desert locusts are destroying tens of thousands of acres of crops and grazing land in Somalia in the worst invasion in 25 years, the United Nations food agency said on Wednesday, and the infestation is likely to spread further. — NBC News, "Plague of locusts ravages harvests in Somalia and Ethiopia," 19 Dec. 2019 L'Atelier a pates, a pasta shop in eastern France, uses insect flour made with locusts to make a special pasta. — Sandee Lamotte, CNN, "The food that can feed, and maybe save, the planet: Bugs," 25 Oct. 2019 According to Knight, the bugs swarming down the Las Vegas Strip are not locusts, but rather pallid-winged grasshoppers, a common desert species. — Alejandro De La Garza, Time, "Las Vegas' Huge Grasshopper Swarm Is Showing Up on Weather Radar," 28 July 2019 Still, no flamethrower would ever get all the locusts—and no microwave weapon would get all the drones. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Russia's Huge Drone Swarms Could Be Unstoppable," 6 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'locust.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of locust

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for locust

Middle English, from Anglo-French locuste, from Latin locusta

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Time Traveler for locust

Time Traveler

The first known use of locust was in the 14th century

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Statistics for locust

Last Updated

25 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Locust.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/locust. Accessed 29 January 2020.

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More Definitions for locust

locust

noun
How to pronounce locust (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of locust

: a type of grasshopper that travels in very large groups and that can cause great destruction by eating crops

See the full definition for locust in the English Language Learners Dictionary

locust

noun
lo·​cust | \ ˈlō-kəst How to pronounce locust (audio) \

Kids Definition of locust

1 : a grasshopper that moves in huge swarms and eats up the plants in its path
2 : cicada
3 : a tree with hard wood, leaves with many leaflets, and drooping flower clusters

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More from Merriam-Webster on locust

Spanish Central: Translation of locust

Nglish: Translation of locust for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of locust for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about locust

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