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stick insect
noun
: any of various usually wingless phasmid insects (especially family Phasmatidae) with a long cylindrical body resembling a stick
broadly
: phasmid
Examples of stick insect in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But that population of stick insects ultimately petered out too.
—Darren Incorvaia, New York Times, 28 May 2024
The only poor performance is that of a stick insect, which keeps waving its arms about.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2024
Ranging from as little as a half-inch to as long as two feet, stick insects are innocuous to humans, and some people even keep them as pets.
—Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 8 May 2023
The world’s longest stick insect, measuring two feet from antennae to tail, was discovered in Borneo, Malaysia.
—Jill Neimark, Discover Magazine, 25 Jan. 2010
The Lord Howe Island stick insect, as it's called, was declared extinct in 1960.
—Veronique Greenwood, Discover Magazine, 27 Aug. 2012
The robot was modeled after a stick insect with six legs.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2023
And their ilk just got a little stranger: entomologists working for the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences have discovered a brand-new species of stick insect nearly two feet long — the second-longest insect ever discovered.
—Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 30 Dec. 2014
Most of a stick insect’s life is spent in a circle of trees and bushes, even for those species with wings.
—Mark Barna, Discover Magazine, 1 June 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stick insect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1826, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near stick insect
Cite this Entry
“Stick insect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stick%20insect. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
stick insect
noun
: any of various usually wingless insects that have a long body resembling a stick
called also walking stick
More from Merriam-Webster on stick insect
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about stick insect
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