witchety grub

noun

The large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths and beetles, especially the species Endoxyla leucomochla, traditionally eaten by Aboriginals in the Australian desert.

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Meanings

nounwitchety grub (plural witchety grubs)

plural witchety grubs · alternative witchetty grub · alternative witjuti grub

  1. AustraliaThe large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths and beetles, especially the species Endoxyla leucomochla, traditionally eaten by Aboriginals in the Australian desert.

    I'll think of how the kids come alive walking around sandplains / reading tracks, looking for goannas, digging up witchetty grubs / collecting berries, branches of bush medicines.

    2022, Meg Mooney, Northern Territory Literary Awards, page 33

Origin

From witchety + grub, a partial calque of some Pama-Nyungan language (compare Arabana mako witjuti (“witchety grub”, from mako (“grub”) + witjuti (“witchety bush”))).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

witchety grub. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witchety%20grub

MLA

“witchety grub.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witchety%20grub. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “witchety grub,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witchety%20grub.

Source: witchety grub on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.