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weevil

[ wee-vuhl ]

noun

  1. 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.
  2. any of numerous related beetles.


weevil

/ ˈwiːvɪl /

noun

  1. Also calledsnout beetle any beetle of the family Curculionidae, having an elongated snout (rostrum): they are pests, feeding on plants and plant products See also boll weevil
  2. Also calledpea weevilbean weevil any of various beetles of the family Bruchidae (or Lariidae ), the larvae of which live in the seeds of leguminous plants
  3. any of various similar or related beetles


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Derived Forms

  • ˈweevily, adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of weevil1

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of weevil1

Old English wifel; related to Old High German wibil; compare Old Norse tordӯfill dungbeetle

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Example Sentences

That big weevil had reached southern California and could “wipe out every palm tree in the state,” according to Yanega.

We thoroughly cleaned the pantry, and yet the weevils kept coming back, until we discovered they were hiding in the pantry ceiling.

And cotton crops would often fail when pests like the boll weevil tore through the fields.

The sago palm weevil, a type of beetle, is eaten, roasted or raw, as a larvae in Southeast Asia.

Swallows in the Southern states kill the cotton-boll weevil, one of our worst insect pests.

The one beetle doing by far the greatest harm in this country is the cotton-boll weevil.

How did the Cerceris manage to recognize in these jewels the Weevil, the near relative of the vulgar Phynotomus?

Well, this extraordinary creature is recognized with certainty as a Weevil and stored away as such.

Among the animal parasites may be mentioned the weevil, vibrio tritici, which feeds upon the starch cells of the grain.

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