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Glite Dictionary
pine sawyer

pine sawyer

9.8
A large beetle whose young bore holes in pine trees
  • noun
translation icon : escarabajo del pino
  • After examining the tree, she found the telltale holes left by pine sawyer larvae.

Examples

  • The wood from infested trees showed extensive tunneling by pine sawyers.

  • The forest service warned of an infestation of pine sawyers damaging the local pine stands.

  • The pine sawyer is known for damaging pine trees.

  • Have you seen a pine sawyer recently?

  • The forest service warned of an infestation of pine sawyers damaging the local pine stands.

  • After examining the tree, she found the telltale holes left by pine sawyer larvae.

  • The wood from infested trees showed extensive tunneling by pine sawyers.

Synonyms

borer
vspine sawyer
3 8.1

An insect or larva that makes holes in wood and damages trees

is about large longhorn insects that mainly target specific conifer species
Monochamus
vspine sawyer
  • Specialized
9.9

A large longhorn beetle whose young tunnel into pine trees

is the common term for similar large insects rather than the genus
sawyer beetle
vspine sawyer
  • US
8.8

A large beetle whose young make holes in dead or dying pine trees

targets specific conifer species rather than only dead trees
sawyer
vspine sawyer
  • US
9.9

A beetle whose young make holes in dead or dying trees

refers to insects that affect certain conifer species rather than only dead trees

Surface Forms

pine sawyer singular
pine sawyers plural

Morphology

pine + sawyer

The noun is directly compositional: 'pine' (the tree) + 'sawyer' (a longhorn beetle that tunnels conifers) yields a sawyer associated with pine trees, i.e. a beetle that damages pines. This follows productive English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows the given constituent meanings can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The noun pine sawyer comes from the beetle's habit of making long holes in pine wood. People called it a sawyer, a word for someone who saws wood, because the beetle's young seem to 'saw' through the tree and leave long tunnels. That's why the name refers to a large beetle that damages pine trees.