mealworm en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈmiːlˌwɜː(ɹ)m/
Etymology
From meal + worm.
Meanings
-
(usually) The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle.
We buy mealworms to supplement our chickens' feed ration, and they do some scratching in the yard to find other bugs too.
-
(broadly, informal, sometimes) This or any other larva that looks similar and is found in similar circumstances (i.e., in meal, in flour, in food, in the pantry, in feed, in the feedroom), such as the larva of a mealmoth (flour moth).
They'd seen a few mealmoths and mealworms in recent days, and then they figured out that the cornflakes in the pantry were the source of the problem.
Near-synonym: waxworm
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| mealworms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Hypernyms
Synonyms
Translations (11)
pt larva-da-farinha (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · bg брашнян червей (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · ru мучно́й червь (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · fi jauhomato (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · es gusano de la harina (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · fr ver de farine (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · pt tenébrio (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · tr un kurdu (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · cmn 黃粉蟲 /黄粉虫 (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · pl mącznik (larva of the Tenebrio molitor) · ca cuc de la farina (larva of the Tenebrio molitor)