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Webster 1913 Edition
Weevil
Wee′vil
,Noun.
[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
. Webster 1828 Edition
Weevil
WEEVIL
,Noun.
Definition 2024
weevil
weevil
English
Noun
weevil (plural weevils)
- Any of several small herbivorous beetles in the superfamily Curculionoidea. Many of them have a distinctive snout.
- Any of several small herbivorous beetles in the family Curculionidae belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea.
- Any of several similar but more distantly related beetles such as the biscuit weevil.
- (derogatory) A loathsome person.
- 1972, Jack Lindsay, Fires in Smithfield: a novel of Mary Tudor's reign (page 201)
- 'But you accuse other men of villainy with too easy a tongue, you weevil. I have never wanted you in this matter, and I have said so.'
- 1972, Jack Lindsay, Fires in Smithfield: a novel of Mary Tudor's reign (page 201)
Synonyms
- (beetle of the family Curculionidae): snout beetle, true weevil
Derived terms
Terms derived from weevil
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Translations
beetle in superfamily Curculionoidea
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beetle in family Curculionidae