brown-tail moth

[ broun-teyl ]
/ ˈbraʊnˌteɪl /

noun

a white moth, Nygmia phaerrhoea, having a brown tuft at the end of the abdomen, the larvae of which feed on the foliage of various shade and fruit trees.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Also called brown·tail.

Origin of brown-tail moth

First recorded in 1775–85

Words nearby brown-tail moth

brown-bag, brown-eyed susan, brown-nose, brown-state, brown-séquard's syndrome, brown-tail moth, browne, browned off, browned-off, brownfield, brownian motion
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for brown-tail moth

brown-tail moth

noun

a small brown-and-white European moth, Euproctis phaeorrhoea, naturalized in the eastern US where it causes damage to shade trees: family Lymantriidae (or Liparidae)See also tussock moth
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