boll weevil

American  

noun

1. a snout beetle, Anthonomus grandis, that attacks the bolls of cotton.

2. 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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boll weevil British  

noun

1. a greyish weevil, Anthonomus grandis , of the southern US and Mexico, whose larvae live in and destroy cotton bolls See also weevil

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Etymology

Origin of boll weevil

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

In the Lone Star State, boll weevil traps with pheromones are set up around fields and along roadsides.

From Washington Post • Oct. 7, 2022

So the migration is as much about work and the boll weevil as it is about this notion of opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2022

The cotton boll weevil is considered a major pest because of the damage it does to cotton plants.

From Textbooks • Sep. 6, 2018

A boll weevil monument in Enterprise pays tribute the agricultural pest that prompted the region’s shift from cotton to peanuts and other crops.

From Washington Times • Jul. 11, 2018

In 1915, Mother Nature added to blacks’ suffering when a tiny insect pest, the boll weevil, spread through the cotton crop, destroying the South’s major source of income.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield