Adjacent Words

cankerworm definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: green caterpillar of a geometrid moth; pest of various fruit and shade trees

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1530 either of two geometrid moths (Alsophila pometaria and Paleacrita vernata) and especially their larvae which are serious pests of fruit and shade trees

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cankerworm Can"ker*worm`, n. (Zo["o]l.) The larva of two species of geometrid moths which are very injurious to fruit and shade trees by eating, and often entirely destroying, the foliage. Other similar larv[ae] are also called cankerworms. Note: The autumnal species (Anisopteryx pometaria) becomes adult late in autumn (after frosts) and in winter. The spring species (A. vernata) remains in the ground through the winter, and matures in early spring. Both have winged males and wingless females. The larv[ae] are similar in appearance and habits, and belong to the family of measuring worms or spanworms. These larv[ae] hatch from the eggs when the leaves begin to expand in spring.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. yelek), "the licking locust," which licks up the grass of the field; probably the locust at a certain stage of its growth, just as it emerges from the caterpillar state (Joel 1:4; 2:25). The word is rendered "caterpillar" in Ps. 105:34; Jer. 51:14, 17 (but R.V. "canker-worm"). "It spoileth and fleeth away" (Nah. 3:16), or as some read the passage, "The cankerworm putteth off [i.e., the envelope of its wings], and fleeth away."