Phasmid

//ˈfæz.mɪd// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any insect of the order Phasmida: a leaf insect or walking stick (stick insect).

    "A giant phasmid (or stick insect) from India whose cage was over two metres tall spent long hours standing upon a perpendicular branch and staring into Mother's eyes."

  2. 2
    large cylindrical or flattened mostly tropical insects with long strong legs that feed on plants; walking sticks and leaf insects wordnet
  3. 3
    Either of the two caudal chemoreceptors in some nematodes.
  4. 4
    A phagemid.

Synonyms

All synonyms
phasmid insect

Example

More examples

"A giant phasmid (or stick insect) from India whose cage was over two metres tall spent long hours standing upon a perpendicular branch and staring into Mother's eyes."

Etymology

From Latin phasma (“apparition, specter, phantom”) + -id (nominal suffix), from Ancient Greek φάσμα (phásma, “apparition, phantom”).

Related phrases

leaf insectstick insectwalking stick

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.