any animal of the class Insecta, comprising small, air-breathing arthropods having the body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and having three pairs of legs and usually two pairs of wings.

any small arthropod, such as a spider, tick, or centipede, having a superficial, general similarity to the insects. Compare arachnid .

a contemptible or unimportant person.

of, pertaining to, like, or used for or against insects

an insect bite; insect powder.

noun

ant , aphid , bedbug , bee , beetle , bumblebee , butterfly , cockroach , cootie , daddy longlegs , dragonfly , flea , fly , fruit fly , gnat , grasshopper , hornet , ladybug , louse , mite , mosquito , moth , pest , praying mantis , termite , tick , vermin , yellowjacketnotes:a bug is a particular kind of insect , specifically belonging to the order hemiptera (tough leathery forewings attached to the body - like ladybugs , beetles) while insects generally belong to the class insecta , which have bodies in three segments , usually two pairs or wings and three pairs of legs (like bees , mosquitoes); spiders are not technically insects because they have four pairs of legsinsect (from latin animal insectum) literally meant \'divided animal\' or \'cut up or into\' from the segments of its body (head , thorax , [[abdomen) - the common word being \' bug \'; insect is any of an extremely large group of small invertebrate animals - and most undergo metamorphosis while bug denotes a special group of insects with beaklike sucking mouth parts and partly membranous forewingsone major difference between insect]] , spider , and crustacean is the antennae; one pair on most insects , none on spiders , and two pairs for crustaceans