weevil

[ wee-vuhl ]

noun
  1. Also called snout beetle. any of numerous beetles of the family Curculionidae, which have the head prolonged into a snout and which are destructive to nuts, grain, fruit, etc.

  2. any of numerous related beetles.

Origin of weevil

1
before 900; Middle English wevel,Old English wifel; cognate with Old High German wibil beetle; akin to wave

Words Nearby weevil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use weevil in a sentence

  • The one beetle doing by far the greatest harm in this country is the cotton-boll weevil.

    A Civic Biology | George William Hunter
  • How did the Cerceris manage to recognize in these jewels the weevil, the near relative of the vulgar Phynotomus?

    More Hunting Wasps | J. Henri Fabre
  • Well, this extraordinary creature is recognized with certainty as a weevil and stored away as such.

    More Hunting Wasps | J. Henri Fabre
  • Among the animal parasites may be mentioned the weevil, vibrio tritici, which feeds upon the starch cells of the grain.

British Dictionary definitions for weevil

weevil

/ (ˈwiːvɪl) /


noun
  1. Also called: snout beetle any beetle of the family Curculionidae, having an elongated snout (rostrum): they are pests, feeding on plants and plant products: See also boll weevil

  2. Also called: pea weevil, bean weevil any of various beetles of the family Bruchidae (or Lariidae), the larvae of which live in the seeds of leguminous plants

  1. any of various similar or related beetles

Origin of weevil

1
Old English wifel; related to Old High German wibil; compare Old Norse tordӯfill dungbeetle

Derived forms of weevil

  • weevily, adjective

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