locust

== English == === Etymology === Inherited from Middle English locuste, locust, from Anglo-Norman locuste, Middle French locuste, and their source, Latin locustam (“locust, crustacean, lobster”, accusative of locusta). Doublet of langouste. Noun sense 3 (“kind of tree”), 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). Noun sense 5 (“mainlander”) is a semantic loan from Cantonese 蝗蟲 / 蝗虫 (wong4 cung4), also meaning "locust". === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈləʊ.kəst/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈloʊ.kəst/ Rhymes: -əʊkəst, -oʊkəst === Noun === 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 migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria). [from 14th c.] (now historical) A fruit or pod of a carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua). [from 16th c.] Any of various often leguminous trees and shrubs, especially of the genera Robinia and Gleditsia; locust tree. [from 17th c.] A cicada. [from 18th c.] (Hong Kong, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) A mainlander. (UK, slang, obsolete) A dose of laudanum. ==== Usage notes ==== Sometimes confused with locus. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === locust (third-person singular simple present locusts, present participle locusting, simple past and past participle locusted) (intransitive) To come in a swarm. === References === === Anagrams === clouts == Middle English == === Noun === locust alternative form of locuste