silkworm

American  

[silk-wurm] / ˈsɪlkˌwɜrm /

noun

1. the larva of the Chinese silkworm moth, Bombyx mori, which spins a cocoon of commercially valuable silk.

2. the larva of any of several moths of the family Saturniidae, which spins a silken cocoon.

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silkworm British  

/ ˈsɪlkˌwɜːm /

noun

1. the larva of the Chinese moth Bombyx mori, that feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree: widely cultivated as a source of silk

2. any of various similar or related larvae

3. the moth of any of these larvae

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Etymology

Origin of silkworm

before 1000; Middle English sylkewyrme, Old English seolcwyrm. See silk, worm

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silkworm

From producing silkworm eggs to supplying larvae and rearing cocoons, Asho Farms has integrated the latest technology.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

Legend says the island used to be famous for sericulture and farmers would keep cats because they would chase away rats, protecting the silkworm cocoons from the rodents.

From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024

In light of this, the team engineered a hemostatic agent featuring an inner layer with mussel adhesion proteins for wound adhesion and an outer protective layer entirely composed of silkworm silk proteins.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2024

Jones notes it could be challenging to protect intellectual property rights when commercializing the spider silk because it would likely entail distributing transgenic silkworm eggs to many farmers.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 19, 2023

Fourteen hundred years later, the descendants of those first stolen eggs filled my grandmother’s silkworm box on the Giulia.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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