cankerworm

[ kang-ker-wurm ]

noun

1. an inchworm, the larva of either of two geometrid moths, Paleacrita vernata spring cankerworm and Alsophila pometaria fall cankerworm: a foliage pest of various fruit and shade trees.

cankerworm

/ ˈkæŋkəˌwɜːm /

noun

1. the larva of either of two geometrid moths, Paleacrita vernata or Alsophila pometaria, which feed on and destroy fruit and shade trees in North America

Word History and Origins

Origin of cankerworm¹

First recorded in 1520–30; canker + worm

Example Sentences

The stomachs of four other birds of the same species contained about 600 eggs and 105 female moths of the cankerworm.

From Project Gutenberg

The cankerworm stood at his right hand, and of all his richest, most precious work, there remains only the shadow.

From Project Gutenberg

One naturalist found that four Chickadees had eaten one hundred and five female cankerworm moths.

From Project Gutenberg

This gives a total of nearly twenty thousand cankerworm moth eggs destroyed by four birds in a few minutes.

From Project Gutenberg

Then surely would the years eaten by the cankerworm be given back!

From Project Gutenberg