Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Locust
1. 
(Zool.) 
Any one of numerous species of long-winged, migratory, orthopterous insects, of the family 
Acrididæ
, allied to the grasshoppers; esp., (Edipoda migratoria
, syn. Pachytylus migratoria
, and Acridium perigrinum
, of Southern Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the United States the related species with similar habits are usually called grasshoppers
. See Grasshopper
. ☞ These insects are at times so numerous in Africa and the south of Asia as to devour every green thing; and when they migrate, they fly in an immense cloud. In the United States the harvest flies are improperly called locusts. See 
Cicada
. Locust beetle 
(Zool.)
, a longicorn beetle (
– Cyllene robiniæ
), which, in the larval state, bores holes in the wood of the locust tree. Its color is brownish black, barred with yellow. Called also locust borer
. Locust bird 
(Zool.) 
the rose-colored starling or pastor of India. See 
– Pastor
. Locust hunter 
(Zool.)
, an African bird; the beefeater.
 2. 
[Etymol. uncertain.] 
(Bot.) 
The locust tree. See 
Locust Tree 
(definition, note, and phrases). Locust bean 
(Bot.)
, a commercial name for the sweet pod of the carob tree.
 Webster 1828 Edition
Locust
LO'CUST
,Noun.
  LO'CUST
,Noun.
  Definition 2025
locust
locust
English
Noun
locust (plural locusts)
-  Any of the grasshoppers, usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation.
- especially, the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria)
 - American locust (Schistocerca americana) (does not swarm)
 - Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera)
 - Bombay locust (Nomadacris succincta)
 - brown locust (Locustana pardalina)
 - desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)
 - Italian locust (Calliptamus italicus)
 - Moroccan locust (Dociostaurus maroccanus)
 - red locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)
 - Rocky Mountain locust (Melanoplus spretus) – extinct
 - spur-throated locust (Austracris guttulosa) - Australia
 - Tree locusts (Anacridium spp.)
 
 - A locust tree.
 - (Hong Kong, informal, derogatory) A person from the People's Republic of China, as opposed to someone from Hong Kong.
 
Usage notes
- sometimes confused with locus
 
Translations
type of grasshopper
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