cankerworm

American  

[kang-ker-wurm] / ˈkæŋ kərˌwɜrm /

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.

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cankerworm British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of cankerworm

First recorded in 1520–30; canker + worm

Example Sentences

Chickadees and other winter-resident birds can protect orchards against the cankerworm.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

He spake, and the locust came, And the cankerworm, and that without number, And did eat up every herb in their land, And did eat up the fruit of their ground.

From The Bible Story by Hall, Newton Marshall

The cankerworm is the larva of a moth.

From Agriculture for Beginners Revised Edition by Burkett, Charles William

Sickness, like a cankerworm, was gnawing at her life, and dragging her towards the tomb.

From Poor Folk by Hogarth, C. J.

That which the palmerworm hath left Hath the cankerworm eaten; And that which the cankerworm hath left Hath the caterpillar eaten.

From The Bible Story by Hall, Newton Marshall