thrips

American  

[thrips] / θrɪps /

noun

thrips plural

1. any of several minute insects of the order Thysanoptera, that have long, narrow wings fringed with hairs and that infest and feed on a wide variety of weeds and crop plants.

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thrips British  

/ θrɪps /

noun

1. any of various small slender-bodied insects of the order Thysanoptera, typically having piercing mouthparts and narrow feathery wings and feeding on plant sap. Some species are serious plant pests

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• thrips
  plural

Etymology

Origin of thrips

1650–60; < New Latin < Greek thríps (singular) woodworm

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thrips

As well as reducing infestation by onion thrips, another advantage of red nets is that because they rely on color and not mesh size, they can have larger holes.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 14, 2024

The yellow attracts fungus gnats, aphids, thrips, leaf miners and other harmful pests feeding on your plants.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

California in particular is plagued by western flower thrips, according to Daniel Hasegawa, a research entomologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Salinas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 21, 2022

It bothers me in exactly the same way that taking another gardening class or reading about thrips on the Master Gardener website does.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2022

Six species of cotton insects, along with an assortment of thrips, fruit moths, leaf hoppers, caterpillars, mites, aphids, wireworms, and many others now are able to ignore the farmer’s assault with chemical sprays.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson