dung beetle
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of dung beetle
First recorded in 1625–35
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.
And when describing her underachieving brother’s shortcomings, she says, “He’s got the brains of a dung beetle and the ambitions of a French bureaucrat.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025
The dung beetle, which disperses seeds as it rolls its dung balls, fertilizing topsoil and enhancing biodiversity and engineering its environment, normally orients itself using the Milky Way and the moon.
From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2025
Kuang’s dark literary thriller “Yellowface” and “I Eat Poop,” Mark Pett’s “absolutely adorable and very funny kid’s book about a dung beetle, with a really wonderful anti-bullying message.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
The villain's glowing eye has also been referenced in the names of a dung beetle, a frog and a dinosaur.
From BBC ● May 6, 2023
In my mind, in this moment I see a dung beetle, working with all its small might.
From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
