tomato hornworm
1
8.5
- noun
- /təˈmeɪtoʊ hɔrnˌwɜrm/
- Specialized
:
gusano del tomate
- Before planting, it's helpful to identify common pests like the tomato hornworm that can damage crops.
- tomato hornworm and tobacco hornworms
- including tomato hornworms
Examples
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She carefully examined the tomato hornworm to learn more about its feeding habits and lifecycle.
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That one got tomato hornworm, I think, but I think we get some of these fresh.
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And thank you for posting the picture of the tomato hornworm.
Blog text (32) -
You know, these pests like these tomato hornworms obviously have been having a snack, but not without paying the price.
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The gardener discovered a tomato hornworm hiding among the leaves of the tomato plants.
Synonyms
1
7.9
A large green caterpillar with a horn at its tail that eats tomato plants
A large green caterpillar with white stripes that eats potato and tomato leaves
A large green caterpillar with white stripes that eats tomato and tobacco plants
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is fully compositional: 'tomato' specifies the host/plant and 'hornworm' names a particular large green caterpillar, so a learner who knows both words can infer this refers to the hornworm that feeds on tomato plants. This straightforward modifier+noun formation is a common, literal compounding pattern cross-linguistically, making it understandable to B1 learners from its parts.
Etymology
Tomato hornworm names a large green caterpillar with white stripes and a small pointed horn on its rear, a creature that looks like a worm and eats tomato and potato plants. Because it chews leaves and fruit, gardeners call it a damaging 'pest'.