释义 |
ˈcutworm A caterpillar which cuts off by the surface of the ground the young plants of cabbage, melons, maize, etc.; esp. in U.S., the larvæ of species of Agrotis, a genus of moths.
1808–79Jamieson, Cutworm, a small white grub, which destroys coleworts and other vegetables of this kind, by cutting through the stem near the roots. 1817–8Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 187 No patching after the cut-worm, or brown grub. 1883Cassell's Nat. Hist. vi. 30 Perhaps the most formidable of all [caterpillars] are those called ‘cutworms’ in America, which live beneath the surface of the ground, and eat through the roots of plants. |