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Insect vs Infect - What's the difference?

insect | infect |

As a noun insect

is an arthropod in the class insecta, characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinous exoskeleton.

As a verb infect is

to bring into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen).

As an adjective infect is

(obsolete) infected.

insect

English

{{ picdic , image=Insect anatomy diagram.svg , detail1= A=head B=thorax C=abdomen
1=antenna 2=lower ocelli 3=upper ocelli 4=compound eye 5=brain 6=prothorax 7=dorsal artery 8=tracheal tubes 9=mesothorax 10=metathorax 11=first wing 12=second wing 13=midgut (stomach) 14=heart 15=ovary 16=hindgut 17=anus 18=vagina 19=nerve chord 20=Malpighian tubes 21=pillow 22=claws 23=tarsus 24=tibia 25=femur 26=trochanter 27=foregut 28=thoracic ganglion 29=coxa 30=salivary gland 31=subesophageal ganglion 32=mouthparts , detail3= }}

Noun

(en noun)
  • An arthropod in the class Insecta, characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinous exoskeleton.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner
  • , title= An Acoustic Arms Race , volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=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.}}
  • (colloquial) Any small arthropod similar to an insect including spiders, centipedes, millipedes, etc
  • A contemptible or powerless person.
  • Synonyms

    * bug (Colloquial 1,2)

    See also

    * arachnid * arthropod * beetle * bug * chafer * coleopter * entomology * larva * worm

    Anagrams

    * * * ----

    infect

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To bring into contact with a substance that causes illness (a pathogen).
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke
  • , title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.}}
  • To make somebody enthusiastic about one's own passion.
  • Antonyms

    * disinfect

    Derived terms

    * infection * infectible

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Infected.
  • * 1602 , , I. iii. 187:
  • And in the imitation of these twain, / Who, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns / With an imperial voice, many are infect .
    ----