boll weevil
a snout beetle, Anthonomus grandis, that attacks the bolls of cotton.
Informal. (especially in the U.S. Congress) a Southern Democrat with conservative views who often votes with the Republicans as part of a Southern or conservative power bloc.
Origin of boll weevil
1Words Nearby boll weevil
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use boll weevil in a sentence
So did the cotton growers from the South who were chased off their plantations by the boll weevil.
And cotton crops would often fail when pests like the boll weevil tore through the fields.
Swallows in the Southern states kill the cotton-boll weevil, one of our worst insect pests.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterThe one beetle doing by far the greatest harm in this country is the cotton-boll weevil.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterProfitable crops of cotton can be grown in spite of the boll weevil and cotton is not now a surplus money crop.
How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory | G. H. Alford
The boll weevil means diversified farming and stock raising.
How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory | G. H. AlfordPlenty of good labor is an absolute necessity in growing cotton under boll weevil conditions.
How to Prosper in Boll Weevil Territory | G. H. Alford
British Dictionary definitions for boll weevil
a greyish weevil, Anthonomus grandis, of the southern US and Mexico, whose larvae live in and destroy cotton bolls: See also weevil (def. 1)
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
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