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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Insect \In"sect\, a.
1. Of or pertaining to an insect or insects.
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2. Like an insect; small; mean; ephemeral.
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Insect \In"sect\ ([i^]n"s[e^]kt), n. [F. insecte, L. insectum,
fr. insectus, p. p. of insecare to cut in. See {Section}. The
name was originally given to certain small animals, whose
bodies appear cut in, or almost divided. Cf. {Entomology}.]
1. (Zool.) One of the Insecta; esp., one of the Hexapoda. See
{Insecta}.
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Note: The hexapod insects pass through three stages during
their growth, viz., the larva, pupa, and imago or
adult, but in some of the orders the larva differs
little from the imago, except in lacking wings, and the
active pupa is very much like the larva, except in
having rudiments of wings. In the higher orders, the
larva is usually a grub, maggot, or caterpillar,
totally unlike the adult, while the pupa is very
different from both larva and imago and is inactive,
taking no food.
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2. (Zool.) Any air-breathing arthropod, as a spider or
scorpion.
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3. (Zool.) Any small crustacean. In a wider sense, the word
is often loosely applied to various small invertebrates.
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4. Fig.: Any small, trivial, or contemptible person or thing.
--Thomson.
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{Insect powder},a powder used for the extermination of
insects; esp., the powdered flowers of certain species of
{Pyrethrum}, a genus now merged in {Chrysanthemum}. Called
also {Persian powder}.
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