chafer

American

[chey-fer] / ˈtʃeɪ fər /

noun

any scarabaeid beetle.

chafer British

/ ˈtʃeɪfə /

noun

any of various scarabaeid beetles, such as the cockchafer and rose chafer

"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

Etymology

Origin of chafer

before 1000; Middle English cheaffer, chaver, Old English ceofor; akin to German Käfer

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The large black chafer beetle, Holotrichia parallela, is an agricultural pest in Asia.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2024

Wildlife can provide at least a limited check on European chafer populations, Bakker said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2021

Though not as fearsome as the murder hornet, the European chafer joins an ever-expanding list of invasive species causing ecological headaches.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2021

By 2016, the chafer had taken up permanent residence near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 10, 2021

There is an airy May chafer song in Alsace—Teutonic in tradition, though French in tongue: Avril, tu t'en vas, Car Mai vient l�-bas, Pour balayer ta figure De pluie, aussi de froidure.

From Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) by Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess Evelyn

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023