MOTH • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Moth

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noun

Moth n. A mote. (Obs.)

Moth n. (pl. moths)

1.

(Zool.) Any nocturnal lepidopterous insect, or any not included among the butterflies; as, the luna moth; Io moth; hawk moth.

2.

(Zool.) Any lepidopterous insect that feeds upon garments, grain, etc.; as, the clothes moth; grain moth; bee moth. See these terms under Clothes, Grain, etc.

3.

(Zool.) Any one of various other insects that destroy woolen and fur goods, etc., esp. the larvae of several species of beetles of the genera Dermestes and Anthrenus. Carpet moths are often the larvae of Anthrenus. See Carpet beetle, under Carpet, Dermestes, Anthrenus.

4.

Anything which gradually and silently eats, consumes, or wastes any other thing.

Moth blight (Zool.), any plant louse of the genus Aleurodes, and related genera. They are injurious to various plants.

Moth gnat (Zool.), a dipterous insect of the genus Bychoda, having fringed wings.

Moth hunter (Zool.), the goatsucker.

Moth miller (Zool.), a clothes moth. See Miller 3 (a).

Moth mullein (Bot.), a common herb of the genus Verbascum (Verbascum Blattaria), having large wheel-shaped yellow or whitish flowers.

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Etymology of 'Moth'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Moth" Quotes from Famous Books

... but every one had woollen garments and pieces, and the quilts made of these were of grateful warmth in bleak New England. All kinds of commonplace garments and remnants of decayed gentility were pressed into service in these quilts: portions of the moth-eaten and discarded uniforms of militia-men, worn-out flannel sheets dyed with some brilliant home-dye, old coat and cloak linings, well-worn petticoats. A magnificent scarlet cloak worn by a lord mayor of London and brought to America ...

— Home Life in Colonial Days • Alice Morse Earle

... the apartment in which Monte-Cristo as Sinbad the Sailor had welcomed the Baron Franz d' Epinay years before, but the crimson brocade, worked with flowers of gold, though it still lined the chamber as it did then, was now faded and moth-eaten, while the Turkey carpet in which the Baron's feet had sunk to the instep, as well as the tapestry hanging in front of the doors, was in the same condition. The divan in the recess had been riddled by worms and the silver scabbards ...

— Monte-Cristo's Daughter • Edmund Flagg

... ago in New York. This won't be the original company, of course." The year that Hattie came back wearing a set of skunk everyone thought it was lynx until Hattie drew attention to what she called the "brown tone" in it. After that Old Lady Heinz got her old skunk furs out of the moth balls and tobacco and newspapers that had preserved them, and her daughter cut them up into bands for the bottom of her skirt, and the cuffs of her coat. When Kiser & Bloch had their fall and spring openings the town came ostensibly to see the new styles, ...

— Roast Beef, Medium • Edna Ferber

... got one splendid fellow, a green-winged moth. I'll show him to you in my study after ...

— Parkhurst Boys - And Other Stories of School Life • Talbot Baines Reed

... scarcely dared to breathe. He knew what had happened. The twine had brushed against the sentry's cheek. But then a puff of wind carried it away, and the man went on, brushing at his cheek, thinking, perhaps, a moth had touched it. ...

— The Boy Scouts In Russia • John Blaine

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