The DICT Development Group
2 definitions found
for Weevil
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :
Weevil \Wee"vil\, n. [OE. wivel, wevil, AS. wifel, wibil; akin
to OD. wevel, OHG. wibil, wibel, G. wiebel, wibel, and
probably to Lith. vabalas beetle, and E. weave. See Weave.]
(Zool.)
Any one of numerous species of snout beetles, or
Rhynchophora, in which the head is elongated and usually
curved downward. Many of the species are very injurious to
cultivated plants. The larvae of some of the species live in
nuts, fruit, and grain by eating out the interior, as the
plum weevil, or curculio, the nut weevils, and the grain
weevil (see under Plum, Nut, and Grain). The larvae of
other species bore under the bark and into the pith of trees
and various other plants, as the pine weevils (see under
Pine). See also Pea weevil, Rice weevil, Seed weevil,
under Pea, Rice, and Seed.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :
weevil
n 1: any of several families of mostly small beetles that feed
on plants and plant products; especially snout beetles and
seed beetles
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