{
    "term": "insect",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "a2",
    "image": "data/images/in/insects.png",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "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.",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Most birds spend most of the day eating insects."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There are about 30 million species of insects in the world."
                },
                {
                    "text": "insect species"
                },
                {
                    "text": "**insect repellent** *(= a chemical that keeps insects away)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "an insect bite"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The pesticide is lethal to all insect life."
                },
                {
                    "text": "methods to ensure the plants are as free of disease and insect pests as possible"
                },
                {
                    "text": "An insect was buzzing around the room."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Gardeners welcome birds as they control insect pests."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Insects had bored deep into the wood."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Social insects, such as ants, live in large colonies."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The wood should be treated against insect attack."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Unfortunately, pesticides kill off beneficial insects as well as harmful ones."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Wasps are the master builders of the insect world."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Insects, worms, etc."],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["flying", "winged", "aquatic"],
                "… of insects": ["swarm"],
                "verb + insect": ["repel", "control", "kill"],
                "insect + verb": ["buzz", "fly", "crawl"],
                "insect + noun": ["attack", "infestation", "bite"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈɪnsekt/",
                "audio": "in/insect/insect__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈɪnsekt/",
                "audio": "in/insect/insect__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "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’."
}