weevil

Everyday

A small beetle with a long snout, which often eats and damages crops, flour, rice, grain and nuts. tree →

In the lessons

In science and farming topics, weevils are pests that spoil stored food or crops, such as the boll weevil on cotton. In history, sailors' ship biscuits were often full of weevils. In everyday life, finding weevils in flour means throwing it out. Phrases: boll weevil, weevils in the flour.

Examples

• There were weevils in the old bag of flour. tree →
• The weevil has a long nose called a snout. tree →
• Weevils can damage a whole crop of grain. tree →
• Sailors on old ships ate biscuits full of weevils. tree →
• Keep rice in a sealed jar so weevils can't get in. tree →
• The boll weevil damaged cotton farms in the USA. tree →

Note

Countable. Weevils are beetles, so they have six legs and hard wing cases. They are not poisonous, but food with weevils is usually thrown away.