lac insect

American

[lak] / læk /

noun

a scale insect, Laccifer lacca, of southeast Asia, the female of which secretes lac, a substance used in the preparation of shellac, wax, etc.

lac insect British

/ læk /

noun

any of various homopterous insects of the family Lacciferidae, esp Laccifer lacca of India, the females of which secrete lac

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Lac, lak, n. a dark-red transparent resin produced on the twigs of trees in the East by the lac insect, used in dyeing.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

On this account and also because of the sin committed in killing them, no Hindu caste will propagate the lac insect, and the calling is practised only by Gonds, Korkus and other primitive tribes.

From Project Gutenberg

The caste are usually petty cultivators and labourers, while they also collect grass and fuel for sale, and propagate the lac insect.

From Project Gutenberg

For an account of the lac insect see in the Philosophical Transactions Volume 71 page 374 a paper by Mr. James Kerr.

From Project Gutenberg

Propagation by cuttings or layers cannot fail to be of easy and rapid application; and if we consider that the tree is the most valuable receptacle of the lac insect, there is every reason to suppose that the natives will readily enter into such views.

From Project Gutenberg

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