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.
But it is this strong smell, as well as the smell associated with their insect poo - frass - that makes them ideal to be found by sniffer dogs.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
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
In Malaysia, Nutrition Technologies produces "soil conditioner" from frass - the waste and skin of Black Soldier Fly larvae.
From Reuters ● Jan. 30, 2023
But it will have an aesthetic benefit, and it may make sitting beneath the trees in June less repulsive by reducing the excreted frass dropping from above.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2022
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 Smith, John. B.
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.
