weevil

[ wee-vuh l ]
/ ˈwi vəl /

noun

Also called snout beetle. any of numerous beetles of the family Curculionidae, which have the head prolonged into a snout and which are destructive to nuts, grain, fruit, etc.
any of numerous related beetles.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of weevil

before 900; Middle English wevel, Old English wifel; cognate with Old High German wibil beetle; akin to wave

Words nearby weevil

weeping lovegrass, weeping myall, weeping willow, weepy, weever, weevil, weevily, weewee, weft, weft ikat, weft knitting
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for weevil

British Dictionary definitions for weevil

weevil
/ (ˈwiːvɪl) /

noun

Also called: snout beetle any beetle of the family Curculionidae, having an elongated snout (rostrum): they are pests, feeding on plants and plant productsSee also boll weevil
Also called: pea weevil, bean weevil any of various beetles of the family Bruchidae (or Lariidae), the larvae of which live in the seeds of leguminous plants
any of various similar or related beetles

Derived forms of weevil

weevily, adjective

Word Origin for weevil

Old English wifel; related to Old High German wibil; compare Old Norse tordӯfill dungbeetle
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012