thrips

American

[thrips] / θrɪps /

noun

plural

thrips

any of several minute insects of the order Thysanoptera, that have long, narrow wings fringed with hairs and that infest and feed on a wide variety of weeds and crop plants.

thrips British

/ θrɪps /

noun

any of various small slender-bodied insects of the order Thysanoptera, typically having piercing mouthparts and narrow feathery wings and feeding on plant sap. Some species are serious plant pests

"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 thrips

1650–60; < New Latin < Greek thríps (singular) woodworm

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.

As well as reducing infestation by onion thrips, another advantage of red nets is that because they rely on color and not mesh size, they can have larger holes.

From Science Daily • Feb. 14, 2024

The yellow attracts fungus gnats, aphids, thrips, leaf miners and other harmful pests feeding on your plants.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 17, 2024

California in particular is plagued by western flower thrips, according to Daniel Hasegawa, a research entomologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Salinas.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 21, 2022

"Lady beetles and their larvae will consume many soft-bodied insects including thrips, mealybugs, and some scale insects."

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2022

Six species of cotton insects, along with an assortment of thrips, fruit moths, leaf hoppers, caterpillars, mites, aphids, wireworms, and many others now are able to ignore the farmer’s assault with chemical sprays.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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