frass
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of frass
1850–55; originally, the refuse and excrement of boring or leaf-eating insects < German Frass insect damage, corrosion, noun from base of fressen to eat (of animals); see fress, fret 1
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.
Also, their manure, known as frass, can be used as fertiliser.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2025
Black soldier fly larvae could consume astronauts’ organic waste and process it into frass, which could be used as fertilizer to coax plants out of alien soil.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2023
One example is the skipper caterpillar, which can shoot solid pellets of its waste, known as frass, over a distance up to 38 times its body length to keep predators off its tail.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 28, 2023
While most Malaysian fertilizer producers now sell frass, volumes are still too low to draw the attention of global agriculture companies, Zorrilla said.
From Reuters ● Jan. 30, 2023
Paranal forks: two lateral, bristle-like structures in some caterpillars, used to throw frass pellets to a distance.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith
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.
