stick insect

noun

: any of various usually wingless phasmid insects (especially family Phasmatidae) with a long cylindrical body resembling a stick
broadly : phasmid

Examples of stick insect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The only poor performance is that of a stick insect, which keeps waving its arms about. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2024 Ranging from as little as a half-inch to as long as two feet, stick insects are innocuous to humans, and some people even keep them as pets. Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 8 May 2023 The world’s longest stick insect, measuring two feet from antennae to tail, was discovered in Borneo, Malaysia. Jill Neimark, Discover Magazine, 25 Jan. 2010 The Lord Howe Island stick insect, as it's called, was declared extinct in 1960. Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 27 Aug. 2012 The robot was modeled after a stick insect with six legs. IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2023 And their ilk just got a little stranger: entomologists working for the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences have discovered a brand-new species of stick insect nearly two feet long — the second-longest insect ever discovered. Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 30 Dec. 2014 Most of a stick insect’s life is spent in a circle of trees and bushes, even for those species with wings. Mark Barna, Discover Magazine, 1 June 2018 The Lord Howe Island stick insect was believed to have become extinct sometime around 1920 due to the introduction of black rats. Ralph Steadman, Discover Magazine, 19 July 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stick insect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of stick insect was in 1826

Dictionary Entries Near stick insect

Cite this Entry

“Stick insect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stick%20insect. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

stick insect

noun
: any of various usually wingless insects that have a long body resembling a stick

called also walking stick

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