treehopper

American

[tree-hop-er] / ˈtriˌhɒp ər /

noun

any of numerous homopterous jumping insects of the family Membracidae, that have an enlarged prothorax and feed on the juices of plants, often injuring the plants.

treehopper British

/ ˈtriːˌhɒpə /

noun

any homopterous insect of the family Membracidae , which live among trees and other plants and typically have a large hoodlike thoracic process curving backwards over the body

"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

Etymology

Origin of treehopper

First recorded in 1830–40; tree + hopper

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.

The cover featured a bizarre-looking South American insect called the ball-bearing treehopper.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 19, 2017

When they traced the development of a treehopper, Gompel and Prud'homme found that the helmet started off as two separate buds of tissue on the back of the nymph and later fused.

From Science Magazine • May 4, 2011

The two developmental biologists from the Institute of Developmental Biology of Marseilles-Luminy in France and their colleagues took a close look at five treehopper species.

From Science Magazine • May 4, 2011

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023