katydid
Americannoun
-
katydids
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of katydid
An Americanism dating back to 1745–55; imitative
Explanation
A katydid is a type of grasshopper with extra-long antennae. You can hear katydids on summer nights making a loud, three-note sound. Like grasshoppers and crickets, katydids make noise by rubbing body parts together — in their case, by moving a leg against a wing and producing a sound that resembles their name. Katydids have also been known as "wide-horned grasshoppers," for the antennae that are often longer than their bodies. These insects are nocturnal and use camouflage, disguising themselves as green leaves to stay safe from predators.
Vocabulary lists containing katydid
Starfish
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Summer of the Monkeys
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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.
See Examples For:
Wizen was photographing a lichen dragon katydid measuring just 15mm long, making it difficult to distinguish from the lichen around it.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
The katydid lived long enough to mate and later died naturally the following month.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
The Mormon cricket is not a true cricket but a shield-backed katydid.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
Most katydid species are expertly camouflaged among vegetation to avoid the multitude of predators, and many of them have yet to be identified.
From The Guardian ● May 27, 2019
There was not a peep to be heard but katydid noises outside in the deep, black night.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Zookeepers will need to coax every bird, reptile, fish and mammal - from the largest rodents in the world to the greenest katydids - to the weighing scale.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Pink katydids have been recorded in scientific literature since 1878, but they have usually been viewed as rare and disadvantageous mutations.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2026
“Even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream.”
From Scientific American ● Jun. 16, 2023
To generate chirps, crickets and katydids rub their forewings together, scraping a toothy vein against a smooth counterpart on the other wing, similar to a spoon raking a washboard.
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
“Of course it’s true. What’s so peculiar about that? You ought to see where my cousins the crickets and the katydids keep theirs.”
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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.
