Obs. exc. dial. In 4 bruk, bruyk, bruc. [ad. L. brūcus, brūchus; see BRUCHUS.]
1. ‘A locust without wings’; ? the larva of the locust; a destructive caterpillar.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter civ. 32. He sayd & the locust come and the bruyk…. Comm. The locust is modire of the bruyk: thai ere litill bestis, bot thai ere ful noyous.
1382. Wyclif, Lev. xi. 22. As is bruk [1388 bruke] in his kynde, that is the kynde of locust er it haue wenges. Ibid., Jer. li. 14. Y shal fulfille thee of men, as with bruc werm.
1609. Bible (Douay), Joel i. 4. The residue of the locust hath the bruke eaten.
2. (See quot.)
1847–78. Halliwell, Bruck, a field-cricket. North.
