Silkworm definition

sĭlkwûrm
silkworms
Frequency:
Any of various caterpillars that produce silk cocoons, especially the larva of a moth (Bombyx mori) native to Asia that spins a cocoon of fine, strong, lustrous fiber that is the source of commercial silk.
noun
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Any of various caterpillars of moths that produce silk cocoons, especially Bombyx mori, the source of most commercial silk.
noun
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Any of certain moth caterpillars (esp. family Bombycidae) that produce cocoons of silk fiber: they feed chiefly on mulberry leaves, and some species (esp. Bombyx mori) are cultivated as the source of commercial silk.
noun
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
silkworm
Plural:
silkworms

Silkworm Sentence Examples

  • Among the insects the bee and the silkworm are the most useful.

  • The common silkworm produces as a rule only one generation during the year; but there are races in cultivation which are bivoltine, or twogenerationed, and some are multivoltine.

  • Pasteur prosecuted his investigations into the silkworm disease at Alais, and the town has dedicated a bust to his memory.

  • But the first notice of the silkworm in Western literature occurs in Aristotle, Hist.

  • Thus he came to the conclusion that the malady had been inherent in many successive generations of the silkworm, and that the epidemic condition was only an exaggeration of a normal state brought about by the method of cultivation and production of graine pursued.

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