aphid
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of aphid
First recorded in 1880–85; back formation from aphides, plural of aphis
Explanation
An aphid is a bug that's considered a pest by many gardeners. Aphids like to eat a variety of plants, including roses, lettuce, peaches, and grapes. Aphids feed by sucking sap or liquid from a plant, and they can be quite destructive to a farmer's crop or a gardener's flower bed, because they reproduce quickly and efficiently. Several kinds of birds and spiders prey on aphids, and farmers use both chemical and biological insecticides to control them. The word aphid comes from the Modern Latin aphis, from 1758, although its origin isn't known.
Vocabulary lists containing aphid
Amazing Animals, List 1
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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The End of the Wild
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And one of the most abundant milkweed-visiting aphids, the nonnative oleander aphid, is host-specific, meaning it doesn’t eat other plants.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2023
"Lady beetles are part of a healthy outdoor ecosystem that helps to manage aphid populations in certain settings," says Cory Tanner, Horticulture Program Team Director at Clemson University.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2022
Viswanath Birje has been announced as the winner of the Royal Society of Biology's photography competition, for his image of ants feeding off honeydew excreted by a yellow aphid.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2021
As the two zoologists were pondering snails, across campus, David Blaauw’s engineering lab had created the world’s smallest computer that has a battery: a 2-by-5-by-2 millimeter sensor slightly bigger than an aphid.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2021
Several natural enemies of the spotted alfalfa aphid, an accidental import from the Middle East, are credited with saving the California alfalfa industry.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
