cotton stainer

American

noun

any of several large red-and-black bugs of the genus Dysdercus that puncture oranges and cotton bolls and discolor cotton fibers: a serious pest in America and India.

cotton stainer British

noun

any of various heteropterous insects of the genus Dysdercus: serious pests of cotton, piercing and staining the cotton bolls: family Pyrrhocoridae

"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 cotton stainer

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60

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 “cotton stainers,” various species of Dysdercus, are widely distributed, occurring for example in America, the West Indies, Africa, India, &c.

From Project Gutenberg

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