cuckoo-spit
[ koo-koo-spit, koo k-oo- ]
/ ˈku kuˌspɪt, ˈkʊk u- /
noun
Also called frog spit.
a frothy secretion found on plants, exuded by the young of certain insects, as the froghoppers, and serving as a protective covering.
an insect that produces this secretion.
Origin of cuckoo-spit
1350–1400; Middle English
cokkowespitle cuckoopint; so called from the spitlike secretion found on the plant and thought to be left by the bird
Words nearby cuckoo-spit
cuckoo clock,
cuckoo shrike,
cuckoo spit,
cuckoo wasp,
cuckoo-shrike,
cuckoo-spit,
cuckooflower,
cuckoopint,
cuculiform,
cucullate,
cucumber
Example sentences from the Web for cuckoo-spit
They call it cuckoo-spit, from its plentiful appearance about the arrival of that bird.
There is no commoner sight in the early summer than the cuckoo-spit on the grasses and herbage by the wayside.
The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) |J. Arthur Thomson