locust

lo·cust

A pair of locust.

noun

The definition of a locust is a type of grasshopper that migrates in huge numbers quickly eating the plants in their path, or a hardwood tree with fragrant white flowers.

An example of a locust is the plague told about in Exodus 10:1-20 in the New International Version of the Bible.

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"locust." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/locust>.

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locust. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/locust

locust

any of various large grasshoppers; specif., a migratory grasshopper often traveling in great swarms and causing extensive damage to vegetation
seventeen-year locust
1. a spiny tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) of the pea family, native to the E or central U.S. and having long, pendulous racemes of fragrant white flowers
  also called black locust or yellow locust
2. the yellowish, hard, durable wood of this tree
any honeylocust
carob (sense )

Origin of locust

Middle English from Classical Latin locusta, probably akin to lacerta, lizard

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"locust." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/locust>.

APA Style

locust. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/locust

locust

noun

Any of various short-horned grasshoppers that sometimes migrate in immense swarms, devouring vegetation and crops.
A cicada, especially a periodical cicada.
a. Any of several trees of the pea family bearing long pods, especially the black locust, honey locust, and carob.
b. The wood of any of these trees.

Origin of locust

Middle English from Old French locuste from Latin locusta Sense 3a, probably from the resemblance of a carob pod to a grasshopper and the use of both as subsistence food in drier regions of the Near East

locust

black locust

Robinia pseudoacacia

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.