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locustmore about locust

locust


  6  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Locust  \Lo"cust\,  n.  [L.  locusta  locust,  grasshopper.  Cf 
  {Lobster}.] 
  1.  (Zo["o]l.)  Any  one  of  numerous  species  of  long-winged, 
  migratory,  orthopterous  insects,  of  the  family 
  {Acridid[ae]},  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["o]l.),  a  longicorn  beetle  ({Cyllene 
  robini[ae]}),  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["o]l.)  the  rose-colored  starling  or  pastor 
  of  India.  See  {Pastor}. 
 
  {Locust  hunter}  (Zo["o]l.),  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. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Praying  \Pray"ing\, 
  a.  &  n.  from  {Pray},  v. 
 
  {Praying  insect},  {locust},  or  mantis  (Zo["o]l.),  a  mantis, 
  especially  {Mantis  religiosa}.  See  {Mantis}. 
 
  {Praying  machine},  or  {Praying  wheel},  a  wheel  on  which 
  prayers  are  pasted  by  Buddhist  priests,  who  then  put  the 
  wheel  in  rapid  revolution.  Each  turn  in  supposed  to  have 
  the  efficacy  of  an  oral  repetition  of  all  the  prayers  on 
  the  wheel.  Sometimes  it  is  moved  by  a  stream. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Harvest  \Har"vest\,  n.  [OE.  harvest,  hervest,  AS  h[ae]rfest 
  autumn;  akin  to  LG  harfst  D.  herfst  OHG.  herbist,  G. 
  herbst,  and  prob.  to  L.  carpere  to  pluck,  Gr  ?  fruit.  Cf 
  {Carpet}.] 
  1.  The  gathering  of  a  crop  of  any  kind  the  ingathering  of 
  the  crops;  also  the  season  of  gathering  grain  and  fruits, 
  late  summer  or  early  autumn. 
 
  Seedtime  and  harvest  .  .  .  shall  not  cease.  --Gen 
  viii.  22. 
 
  At  harvest,  when  corn  is  ripe.  --Tyndale. 
 
  2.  That  which  is  reaped  or  ready  to  be  reaped  or  gath??ed;  a 
  crop,  as  of  grain  (wheat,  maize,  etc.),  or  fruit. 
 
  Put  ye  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is  ripe. 
  --Joel  iii. 
  13. 
 
  To  glean  the  broken  ears  after  the  man  That  the  main 
  harvest  reaps.  --Shak. 
 
  3.  The  product  or  result  of  any  exertion  or  labor;  gain; 
  reward. 
 
  The  pope's  principal  harvest  was  in  the  jubilee. 
  --Fuller. 
 
  The  harvest  of  a  quiet  eye.  --Wordsworth. 
 
  {Harvest  fish}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  marine  fish  of  the  Southern 
  United  States  ({Stromateus  alepidotus});  --  called 
  {whiting}  in  Virginia.  Also  applied  to  the  dollar  fish. 
 
  {Harvest  fly}  (Zo["o]l.),  an  hemipterous  insect  of  the  genus 
  {Cicada},  often  called  {locust}.  See  {Cicada}. 
 
  {Harvest  lord},  the  head  reaper  at  a  harvest.  [Obs.] 
  --Tusser. 
 
  {Harvest  mite}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  minute  European  mite  ({Leptus 
  autumnalis}),  of  a  bright  crimson  color,  which  is 
  troublesome  by  penetrating  the  skin  of  man  and  domestic 
  animals;  --  called  also  {harvest  louse},  and  {harvest 
  bug}. 
 
  {Harvest  moon},  the  moon  near  the  full  at  the  time  of  harvest 
  in  England,  or  about  the  autumnal  equinox,  when  by  reason 
  of  the  small  angle  that  is  made  by  the  moon's  orbit  with 
  the  horizon,  it  rises  nearly  at  the  same  hour  for  several 
  days. 
 
  {Harvest  mouse}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  very  small  European  field  mouse 
  ({Mus  minutus}).  It  builds  a  globular  nest  on  the  stems  of 
  wheat  and  other  plants. 
 
  {Harvest  queen},  an  image  pepresenting  Ceres,  formerly 
  carried  about  on  the  last  day  of  harvest.  --Milton. 
 
  {Harvest  spider}.  (Zo["o]l.)  See  {Daddy  longlegs}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  locust 
  n  1:  migratory  grasshoppers  of  warm  regions  having  short  antennae 
  2:  hardwood  from  any  of  various  locust  trees 
  3:  any  of  various  hard-wooded  trees  of  the  family  Leguminosae 
  [syn:  {locust  tree}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Locust,  NC  (city,  FIPS  38860) 
  Location:  35.25814  N,  80.43060  W 
  Population  (1990):  1940  (739  housing  units) 
  Area:  9.6  sq  km  (land),  0.0  sq  km  (water) 
  Zip  code(s):  28097 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Locust 
  There  are  ten  Hebrew  words  used  in  Scripture  to  signify  locust. 
  In  the  New  Testament  locusts  are  mentioned  as  forming  part  of 
  the  food  of  John  the  Baptist  (Matt.  3:4;  Mark  1:6).  By  the 
  Mosaic  law  they  were  reckoned  "clean,"  so  that  he  could  lawfully 
  eat  them  The  name  also  occurs  in  Rev.  9:3,  7,  in  allusion  to 
  this  Oriental  devastating  insect. 
 
  Locusts  belong  to  the  class  of  Orthoptera,  i.e., 
  straight-winged.  They  are  of  many  species.  The  ordinary  Syrian 
  locust  resembles  the  grasshopper,  but  is  larger  and  more 
  destructive.  "The  legs  and  thighs  of  these  insects  are  so 
  powerful  that  they  can  leap  to  a  height  of  two  hundred  times  the 
  length  of  their  bodies.  When  so  raised  they  spread  their  wings 
  and  fly  so  close  together  as  to  appear  like  one  compact  moving 
  mass."  Locusts  are  prepared  as  food  in  various  ways.  Sometimes 
  they  are  pounded,  and  then  mixed  with  flour  and  water,  and  baked 
  into  cakes;  "sometimes  boiled,  roasted,  or  stewed  in  butter,  and 
  then  eaten."  They  were  eaten  in  a  preserved  state  by  the  ancient 
  Assyrians. 
 
  The  devastations  they  make  in  Eastern  lands  are  often  very 
  appalling.  The  invasions  of  locusts  are  the  heaviest  calamites 
  that  can  befall  a  country.  "Their  numbers  exceed  computation: 
  the  hebrews  called  them  'the  countless,'  and  the  Arabs  knew  them 
  as  'the  darkeners  of  the  sun.'  Unable  to  guide  their  own  flight, 
  though  capable  of  crossing  large  spaces,  they  are  at  the  mercy 
  of  the  wind,  which  bears  them  as  blind  instruments  of  Providence 
  to  the  doomed  region  given  over  to  them  for  the  time. 
  Innumerable  as  the  drops  of  water  or  the  sands  of  the  seashore, 
  their  flight  obscures  the  sun  and  casts  a  thick  shadow  on  the 
  earth  (Ex.  10:15;  Judg.  6:5;  7:12;  Jer.  46:23;  Joel  2:10).  It 
  seems  indeed  as  if  a  great  aerial  mountain,  many  miles  in 
  breadth,  were  advancing  with  a  slow,  unresting  progress.  Woe  to 
  the  countries  beneath  them  if  the  wind  fall  and  let  them  alight! 
  They  descend  unnumbered  as  flakes  of  snow  and  hide  the  ground. 
  It  may  be  'like  the  garden  of  Eden  before  them  but  behind  them 
  is  a  desolate  wilderness.  At  their  approach  the  people  are  in 
  anguish;  all  faces  lose  their  colour'  (Joel  2:6).  No  walls  can 
  stop  them  no  ditches  arrest  them  fires  kindled  in  their  path 
  are  forthwith  extinguished  by  the  myriads  of  their  dead,  and  the 
  countless  armies  march  on  (Joel  2:8,  9).  If  a  door  or  a  window 
  be  open  they  enter  and  destroy  everything  of  wood  in  the  house. 
  Every  terrace,  court,  and  inner  chamber  is  filled  with  them  in  a 
  moment.  Such  an  awful  visitation  swept  over  Egypt  (Ex.  10:1-19), 
  consuming  before  it  every  green  thing  and  stripping  the  trees, 
  till  the  land  was  bared  of  all  signs  of  vegetation.  A  strong 
  north-west  wind  from  the  Mediterranean  swept  the  locusts  into 
  the  Red  Sea.",  Geikie's  Hours,  etc.,  ii.,  149. 
 




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