WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Lo"cust
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. locusta locust, grasshopper. Cf. Lobster.]
Definition : 1. (Zo?l.)

Defn: Any one of numerous species of long-winged, migratory, orthopterous insects, of the family Acridid?, allied to the grasshoppers; esp., (Edipoda, or 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.

Note: 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 (Zo?l.), a longicorn beetle (Cyllene robini?), 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 (Zo?l.) the rose-colored starling or pastor of India. See Pastor. -- Locust hunter (Zo?l.), an African bird; the beefeater.

2. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.] (Bot.)

Defn: The locust tree. See Locust Tree (definition, note, and phrases). Locust bean (Bot.), a commercial name for the sweet pod of the carob tree.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913