girdler

American  

[gurd-ler] / ˈgɜrd lər /

noun

1. a person or thing that girdles.

2. any of several insects, as a beetle, Oncideres cingulata twig girdler, that cut a groove around the bark of a twig, stem, etc.

3. a person who makes girdles.

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girdler British  

/ ˈɡɜːdlə /

noun

1. a person or thing that girdles

2. a maker of girdles

3. any insect, such as the twig girdler, that bores circular grooves around the stems or twigs in which it lays its eggs

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Etymology

Origin of girdler

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at girdle, -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

girdler

With huge infusions of cash, he built it from a small southwestern carrier into a globe girdler.

From Time Magazine Archive

The twig girdler in the beetle stage feeds rather freely on the bark of twigs.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting New York City, September 3, 4 and 5, 1924 by Northern Nut Growers Association

Several species of borers are found attacking the trunks, the twig girdler severing the tips of twigs, the shuck worm and case-bearer affecting the husk, and the pecan weevil affecting the nuts.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Incorporated 39th Annual Report at Norris, Tenn. September 13-15 1948 by Northern Nut Growers Association

This slide shows one of the pests in the pecan orchard, the twig girdler, at work.

From Northern Nut Growers Association, Report of the Proceedings at the Third Annual Meeting Lancaster, Pennsylvania, December 18 and 19, 1912 by Northern Nut Growers Association

He was, he explained, a "girdler," which meant that his duties consisted in riding through the forest area allotted to him, selecting and girdling those trees which, three years later, would be cut down.

From Where the Strange Trails Go Down Sulu, Borneo, Celebes, Bali, Java, Sumatra, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Cambodia, Annam, Cochin-China by E. Alexander (Edward Alexander) Powell