pests

IPA/pest/
KK[pˈɛsts]IPA/pest/

pests — noun

  • pestssingular
  • pestsesplural

1. harmful insects or other small animals that ruin crops, stored food, or parts of

1.名詞B2
釋義

harmful insects or other small animals that ruin crops, stored food, or parts of a building.

例句

Gardeners covered the cabbage rows after white moth pests returned overnight.

pests returned overnight

Tiny grain pests chewed through the sacks in Vivek's storage shed.

pests in stored food

同義詞
  • vermin

    stronger and harsher, often used for dirty or destructive small animals

  • bugs

    informal and usually limited to insects, not rabbits or rats

  • nuisances

    much broader and not necessarily linked to physical damage

文法句型

control pests

pests on + crop

pests in + building

spray for pests

用法筆記

Common in farming, gardening, food-storage, and home-maintenance contexts. Distinguish from sense 2, where pests are annoying people, and from sense 3, which is an older disease meaning.

常見錯誤

❌Rats ruined the grain, but they are not pests because pests are only insects.
✅Rats ruined the grain, so they are pests.
💡pests can be small animals as well as insects.
❌The tomato house has pest on every plant.
✅The tomato house has pests on every plant.
💡use the plural form when more than one harmful creature is present.

2. people, often children, who keep bothering others and are difficult to ignore.

2.名詞B2
釋義

people, often children, who keep bothering others and are difficult to ignore.

例句

During the bus ride, the boys became pests and kept kicking seats.

became pests + repeated behavior

At breakfast, Aoi said her cousins were pests because they grabbed her toast.

were pests because they kept bothering

同義詞
  • nuisances

    broader and more neutral, and it can describe things as well as people

  • brats

    stronger and used mainly for badly behaved children

  • troublemakers

    usually suggests causing more serious problems than simple irritation

文法句型

be pests

be little pests

call someone pests

用法筆記

Usually describes repeated annoying behavior, not one small mistake. Distinguish from sense 1, which refers to harmful animals or insects, and from sense 3, which is an old disease use.

常見錯誤

❌My cousins are pests to me.
✅My cousins are pests.
💡after pests in this sense, English does not usually add 'to' before the annoyed person.
❌The waiter forgot one spoon, so the staff were pests.
✅The waiter forgot one spoon, so the staff made a mistake.
💡pests suggests repeated annoying behavior, not a single error.

3. deadly epidemic diseases, especially plague-like outbreaks mentioned in older wr

3.名詞C1
釋義

deadly epidemic diseases, especially plague-like outbreaks mentioned in older writing.

例句

Old village records blame pests and famine for the empty farms.

pests and famine

In the novel, deadly pests spread quickly through the crowded port.

historical disease sense

同義詞
  • plagues

    the closest modern equivalent, especially for deadly historical disease

  • epidemics

    more neutral and modern, without the old-fashioned tone

  • outbreaks

    broader and does not always imply extreme death rates

文法句型

pests spread through + place

reports of pests

pests and famine

用法筆記

This sense is mostly found in older histories, literature, or formal writing. In modern everyday English, speakers usually say epidemics, outbreaks, or plague instead.

常見錯誤

❌Doctors warned of summer pests in the city hospital.
✅Doctors warned of a summer outbreak in the city hospital.
💡pests in this sense sounds old-fashioned and is mainly used in historical or literary writing.
❌The pests ate half the wheat crop.
✅The pests destroyed half the wheat crop.
💡in sense 3, pests are diseases, not crop-damaging creatures.