喜樂美語
  1. 1nA2/ˈɪnsekt/昆蟲

    a small animal with six legs and a body made of separate parts, such as a fly, an ant, or a bee. Many insects also have wings.

    示範例句 · Example

    A tiny insect was crawling up Leo's arm, so he gently blew it away.

    逐字一隻很小的昆蟲正沿著里歐的手臂往上爬，所以他輕輕地把牠吹走。

    「insect」就是中文的「昆蟲」——六隻腳、身體一節一節的小動物，像螞蟻、蜜蜂、蒼蠅，很多還有翅膀。How can we think of insect? 這個字可以想成「一隻被切成一段一段的小動物」：牠的身體看起來分成頭、胸、腹三塊。要注意六隻腳這個條件很嚴格——中文的「蟲」範圍很大，蜘蛛、蜈蚣都算，但蜘蛛有八隻腳，英文不叫牠 insect。insect 是可數名詞，一隻是 an insect，很多隻要加 s：insects。

    常見搭配

    • a tiny insect

      很小的昆蟲

      a very small insect

      A tiny insect landed on the page of her book.

    • a flying insect

      會飛的昆蟲

      an insect that has wings and can fly

      Swallows catch flying insects while they are in the air.

    • an insect bite

      蟲咬的包

      a small sore mark on your skin made by an insect

      He had a red insect bite on the back of his hand.

    • insect repellent

      防蚊蟲液

      something you put on your skin to keep insects away

      We put on insect repellent before walking into the forest.

    • an insect crawls

      昆蟲爬行

      an insect moves slowly along a surface using its legs

      A small insect crawled slowly across the table.

    • an insect species

      昆蟲的種類

      one particular kind of insect

      Scientists have found a new insect species in the forest.

    意思相近

    bugcreepy-crawly

core核心畫面

Hold the picture of a body built in sections — head, middle, back end — with six legs coming off the middle part, and very often a pair of wings. A fly, an ant, a bee: small, , six-legged. That build, not the small size, is what puts a creature in this group.

可以想成一具分成幾段的身體：頭、中段、後段，六隻腳全長在中段上，而且常常還配一對翅膀。蒼蠅、螞蟻、蜜蜂就是這個樣子。把一隻小生物歸進這一類的，是這個「分節＋六腳」的構造，不是牠有多小。

複數 insects

意思相近

bugcreepy-crawly

原始詞典資料4 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

insectnoun/ˈɪn.sɛkt/

  • 1

    An arthropod (in the Insecta class) characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinous exoskeleton.

    • Our shed has several insect infestations, including ants, yellowjackets, and wasps.
    • Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
  • 2

    archaicAny small, creeping, crawling, or slithering animal, excluding mammals, birds, and fish.

    • Ambroſe Parey has a picture of the ſalamander, with a receipt for her bite; but there is no ſuch creature, the name being now given to a poor harmleſs inſect.
  • 3

    archaicAny small, creeping, crawling, or slithering animal, excluding mammals, birds, and fish.

    • The learned zoologiſt of our country concludes his labours in this ſcience by the preſent publication, which contains only cruſtaceous inſects, viz. crabs and lobſters, worms and ſhells.
    • A slimy slow creeping animal, of the genus Helix, and order of Mollusca. The eyes of this insect are in the horns, one at the end of each, which it can retract at pleasure.
  • 4

    derogatoryA contemptible or powerless person.

    • The manager’s assistant was the worst sort of insect.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。