Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various insects chiefly of the family Cicadidae, having a broad head, membranous wings, and in the male a pair of resonating organs that produce a characteristic high-pitched, droning sound.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A popular name of many insects belonging to different orders, Hemiptera and Orthoptera, which make a rhythmical creaking or chirping noise; a locust, grasshopper, or cricket. In this sense the word has no definite zoölogical signification.
- noun In zoology: [capitalized] The typical genus of homopterous hemipterous insects of the family Cicadidæ.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any species of the genus Cicada or of the family
Cicadidae . They are large hemipterous insects, with nearly transparent wings. The male makes a shrill sound by peculiar organs in the under side of the abdomen, consisting of a pair of stretched membranes, acted upon by powerful muscles. A noted American species (Cicada septendecim ) is called theseventeen year locust . Another common species is thedogday cicada .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun any of several
insects of the orderHemiptera , suborderAuchenorrhyncha , with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun stout-bodied insect with large membranous wings; male has drum-like organs for producing a high-pitched drone
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha.
Realistic Cicada Husk Papercraft | Papercraft Paradise | PaperCrafts | Paper Models | Card Models Michael James 2008
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They were all back there — Liat and Maati and Kirath and Tuui and Epani who everyone called the cicada behind his back.
A Shadow in Summer 2006
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He called a cicada to his finger and said, Welcome, Sister Cicada.
House Of The Scorpion Nancy Farmer 2002
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He called a cicada to his finger and said, Welcome, Sister Cicada.
House Of The Scorpion Nancy Farmer 2002
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As for the cricket, called in Latin cicada, he hath some likelihood, but not very great, with the grasshopper, and therefore he is not to be brought in as an umpire in this case.
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Huge numbers of the fierce some looking insects are buzzing around the headquarters here in D.C. Experts say this particular breed is called the cicada killer wasp.
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"USA Today" has a story about something experts are calling cicada envy.
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The air is full of the rattle of the cicada, which is like the sound of a loud cricket, or the 'r-- r' of a corncraik's note going on for ever and ever; and the house lizard in the church goes cheep -- cheep -- cheep every now and then.
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A Spanish lexicographer of authority says that the cigar has the form of a "cicada" of paper, and, on the whole, it is highly probable that the likeness of the roll of tobacco-leaf to the cylindrical body of the insect (_cigarra_) was the reason that the "cigarro" was so called.
The Social History of Smoking George Latimer Apperson 1897
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Ken Parsons and Derek Bridges sent me a video clip and neither knows the source of the odd "cicada" sound.
kewpid commented on the word cicada
Pronounced sih-kay-dah.
December 6, 2007
skipvia commented on the word cicada
The cicada sat poised
On your outstretched finger
As you rushed into the house
On that night when the moon painted shadows in the woods.
"Come see," you said
Settling into the couch
Eyes fixed on the opalescent carapace
As if your gaze would hold it there.
An almost imperceptible pinch.
The carapace burst open
And the cicada left its perch
As your eyes tried in vain to bring it back.
"I must have scared it off," you said.
But l know it wanted only to be with you.
November 14, 2008