Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
cutworm

cutworm

1 8.4
A caterpillar that cuts young plants at ground level
  • noun
  • /ˈkʌtˌwɜrm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : gusano cortador
  • The farmer noticed a cutworm cutting through the young plants in his garden.
  • cutworm moth
  • cutworms and armyworms
  • cutworms and beetles

Examples

  • If it is not because of the fog in every petal of the magnolia and those fat cutworms.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • There are a number of insects that attack the wheat crop, such as termites, cutworms, wheat weevils, Jassids, aphids, armyworms, and heliothis.

    Academic text (2014)

  • That way the cutworm cannot wrap around the base of the plant.

  • What the drought didn't get of his wheat, people said, the cutworms got of his corn.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Additional residue from no-till can be a place for things like cutworms to hide.

    Blog text (6)

  • Many gardeners are familiar with the damage caused by cutworms that attack seedlings.

  • Protecting your plants from cutworms can help ensure a healthy crop.

Compounds

army cutworm
  • Specialized
9.9

A caterpillar that moves in large groups and eats crops like wheat and alfalfa

Surface Forms

cutworm singular
cutworms plural

Morphology

cutworm = cut + worm (semi-transparent) = cut + worm

The components 'cut' and 'worm' are recognizable, but the term names a particular larval pest that severs seedlings (and 'worm' here refers to a caterpillar-like larva), a specific horticultural sense not fully obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Cutworm comes from the simple parts cut and worm. Farmers named these caterpillars 'worms' that 'cut' young plants at the ground, so a cutworm is a pest that eats and often cuts off seedlings.