budworm

B3U1D2W4O1R1M3

noun

Any of various noctuid moths, the caterpillars of some species being significant agricultural pests (for example, the native budworm, Helicoverpa punctigera, of Australia and New Zealand).

UncommonScrabble 15
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounbudworm (plural budworms)

plural budworms

  1. Any of various noctuid moths, the caterpillars of some species being significant agricultural pests (for example, the native budworm, Helicoverpa punctigera, of Australia and New Zealand).

    After working briefly for a federal entomologist to control the spruce budworm — and spraying DDT from the air — he returned to the Adirondacks in 1946 to be district ranger at Cranberry Lake for 11 years.

    2007 January 21, The Associated Press, “Adirondacks Are His Life, All 101 Years and Counting”, in New York Times
  2. The caterpillar of these moths.

Origin

From bud + worm.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

budworm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/budworm

MLA

“budworm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/budworm. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “budworm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/budworm.

Source: budworm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.