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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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Origin of boll weevil

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use boll weevil in a sentence

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
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