Meanings
plural palmerworms · alternative palmer-worm · alternative palmer worm
- archaicAny small, terrestrial invertebrate, usually an agricultural pest and having many legs and a hairy body.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joel 2:25 - A gelechiid moth, Dichomeris ligulella, destructive to fruit trees.
If history repeats itself in the case of the palmerworm, fruit growers are not likely to encounter this insect in injurious numbers more than once in a lifetime, since in the past outbreaks have occurred only at intervals of[…]
1922, Altus Lacy Quaintance, Edouard Horace Siegler, The More Important Apple Insects, page 58
Origin
From palmer + worm, because wandering about like a palmer.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Māori whangawhanga
- whangawhangaa grub or larva of a particular species
Cite this entry
palmerworm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palmerworm
“palmerworm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palmerworm. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “palmerworm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palmerworm.
Source: palmerworm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.