boll weevil

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noun

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.

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showing self-respect

treating others with kindness

acting selfishly

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Origin of boll weevil

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Words nearby boll weevil

Bollinger body, bollito misto, bollix, bollocking, bollocks, boll weevil, bollworm, Bollywood, bolo, bologna, bologna sausage

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.
How we drained California dry|Mark Arax|December 16, 2021|MIT Technology Review
And cotton crops would often fail when pests like the boll weevil tore through the fields.
Growth Stocks|The Daily Beast|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The sago palm weevil, a type of beetle, is eaten, roasted or raw, as a larvae in Southeast Asia.
Cicadas, Grasshoppers, Locusts, Ants Among the Tastiest Insects|Nina Strochlic|May 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
See cotton growing, and pick a cotton boll, called "Texas Roses."
The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch|Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman) Porter

Swallows in the Southern states kill the cotton-boll weevil, one of our worst insect pests.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
The beetle lays its eggs in the young cotton fruit or boll, and the larv feed upon the substance within the boll.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
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

British Dictionary definitions for boll weevil

boll weevil

noun

a greyish weevil, Anthonomus grandis, of the southern US and Mexico, whose larvae live in and destroy cotton bollsSee 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