powder-post damage
- noun
- Specialized
:
daño por escarabajo de la madera en polvo
- The old barn had extensive powder-post damage in its rafters, making repairs necessary.
Examples
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Preventing powder-post damage requires treating wood and keeping moisture levels low.
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The old beams showed clear signs of powder-post damage.
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Home inspectors found powder-post damage beneath the flooring of the historic house.
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We need to assess the powder-post damage before proceeding with repairs.
-
Home inspectors found powder-post damage beneath the flooring of the historic house.
-
The old barn had extensive powder-post damage in its rafters, making repairs necessary.
-
We need to assess the powder-post damage before proceeding with repairs.
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
powder-post + damage
While 'damage' is transparent, the modifier 'powder-post' is a specialized, lexicalized term referring to a specific beetle infestation that reduces wood to a powdery dust. An average B1 learner who only knows the literal words 'powder' and 'post' would not be able to derive this technical sense, so the overall phrase is not compositionally predictable.
Etymology
Powder-post damage comes from tiny beetles that eat inside wood and leave fine powder in wooden posts and beams. So the name points to the 'damage' those beetles make when they turn parts of the wood into powder.