Insect ˈɪnsekt Noun Bre Species Repellent Chemical Bite

• insect species
• insect repellent (= a chemical that keeps insects away)
• an insect bite
• the pesticide is lethal to all insect life.

insect

1. any small creature with six legs and a body divided into three parts. Insects usually also have wings. Ants, bees and flies are all insects.
• see also stick insect
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/stick-insect
• insect species
• insect repellent (= a chemical that keeps insects away)
• an insect bite
• The pesticide is lethal to all insect life.

Extra Examples

• An insect was buzzing around the room.
• Birds control insect pests.
• Gardeners welcome birds as they control insect pests.
• Insects had bored deep into the wood.
• Social insects, such as ants, live in large colonies.
• The wood should be treated against insect attack.
• Unfortunately, pesticides kill off beneficial insects as well as harmful ones.
• Wasps are the master builders of the insect world.

Word Origin

• early 17th cent. (originally denoting any small cold-blooded creature with a segmented body): from Latin (animal) insectum ‘segmented (animal)’ (translating Greek zōion entomon), from insecare ‘cut up or into’, from in- ‘into’ + secare ‘to cut’.