New World screwworm

noun

An egg, larva, pupa, or adult of genus Cochliomyia, especially of species Cochliomyia hominivorax, which feeds on living tissue, or Cochliomyia macellaria, which does not.

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Meanings

nounNew World screwworm (plural New World screwworms)

plural New World screwworms

  1. An egg, larva, pupa, or adult of genus Cochliomyia, especially of species Cochliomyia hominivorax, which feeds on living tissue, or Cochliomyia macellaria, which does not.

    The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species, unable to survive Midwestern or Great Plains winters, so it was a seasonal scourge.

    2025 July 2, “U.S. plans to begin breeding billions of flies to fight a pest”, in NBC News, sourced from The Associated Press, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2025
    1 more example

    Earlier, Reuters reported that beef industry sources said last week that the CDC had confirmed a case of New World screwworm in a person in Maryland who had traveled to the US from Guatemala.

    2025 August 25, “First human case of flesh-eating screwworm parasite confirmed in US”, in The Guardian, sourced from Reuters, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2025
Cite this entry
APA

New World screwworm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20World%20screwworm

MLA

“New World screwworm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20World%20screwworm. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “New World screwworm,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/New%20World%20screwworm.

Source: New World screwworm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.