Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several large European scarab beetles of the genus Melolontha, especially M. melolontha, having larvae that damage plant roots and adults that feed on leaves.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The popular name of a very common lamellicorn beetle of Europe, Melolontha vulgaris. Also called May-beetle, May-bug, dor-beetle, and dor-bug.
- noun Any one of various similar or related beetles.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A beetle of the genus Melolontha (esp.
Melolontha vulgaris ) and allied genera; -- called alsoMay bug ,chafer , ordorbeetle .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of the large European
beetles from the genusMelolontha that are destructive to vegetation.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of various large European beetles destructive to vegetation as both larvae and adult
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The common beetle called cockchafer is here known only as the _oak-web_, and a smaller beetle as _fern-web_.
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A cockchafer came droning over the hedge and past us.
The War of The Worlds H. G. Wells 2009
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His name was that of a tiny estate called les Canquoelles, a word meaning cockchafer in some districts, situated in the department of Vaucluse, whence he had come.
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There you sit rustling my dress like a cockchafer in a paper-bag, and making me laugh with contempt.
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A cockchafer came droning over the hedge and past us.
The War of The Worlds by H. G. Wells: Part 3 | Solar Flare: Science Fiction News 2005
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M. de Bargeton pervaded the house like a cockchafer; it never entered his head that his wife could wish to be alone with Lucien.
Two Poets 2007
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M. de Bargeton pervaded the house like a cockchafer; it never entered his head that his wife could wish to be alone with Lucien.
Two Poets 2007
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Bargeton held him fast by this clue, as a child holds a cockchafer by a string.
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A cockchafer came droning over the hedge and past us.
The War of the Worlds Herbert George 2006
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I am safely ... my character is safely in his own bed, but it threatens to become his bride's bed too, so my reluctant bridegroom imagines sending his properly decked-out body to the wedding while he remains at home, unable to venture beyond his blankets, because -- well -- because he is a large beetle, a stag beetle or cockchafer, I think ...
Archive 2006-07-01 2006
mialuthien commented on the word cockchafer
Haven't read the definition, but oh! that sure sounds painful.
July 15, 2008
tankexmortis commented on the word cockchafer
"That really chafes my cock!" is my new catchphrase.
August 20, 2008
super-logos commented on the word cockchafer
Tank, you naughty boy!
August 20, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word cockchafer
The use of this word really chafes my ass.
August 20, 2008
reesetee commented on the word cockchafer
Well, we do seem to have a few juvenile humorists around here lately.
August 20, 2008
rolig commented on the word cockchafer
one who practices an extreme form of cockteasing … oh yeah, and a kind of beetle.
August 20, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word cockchafer
"'And then if you will, Mr. MacKay, please see that each cell is provided with its own cat. ... Is there something wrong, MacKay?'
'No, sir,' MacKay replied slowly. 'Only the wee brown beasties do keep down the cockchafers. And with respect, sir, I dinna think the men would care to have a cat takin' all their rats.'
Grey stared at the man, feeling mildly queasy.
'The prisoners eat the rats?' ...
'Only when they're lucky enough to catch one, sir,' MacKay said. 'Perhaps the cats would be a help wi' that, after all. Will that be all for tonight, sir?'"
—Diana Gabaldon, Voyager (NY: Dell, 1994), 130
January 14, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word cockchafer
See dumbledore.
June 24, 2010
bradleyrturner commented on the word cockchafer
"Five hundred and one million of what?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life let go of a question once he had asked it.
The businessman raised his head.
"During the fifty-four years that I have been living on this planet, I have only been disturbed three times. The first was twenty-two years ago by a cockschafer who dropped down from goodness knows where. He made the most awful noise and I made four errors in my sums. The second time was eleven years ago by an attack of rheumatism. I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for slacking. I'm a serious man. The third time... well this is it! As I was saying, five hundred and one million..."
"Million of what?"
-- Antoine De Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince (Indialog 2006): 58-9
June 10, 2012
knitandpurl commented on the word cockchafer
"Dame Marigold, as she sat watching him, felt that he was rather like a cockchafer that had just flounced in through the open window, and, with a small, smacking sound, was bouncing itself backwards and forwards against its own shadow on the ceiling – a shadow that looked like a big, black velvety moth."
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees, p 35 of the Cold Spring Press paperback edition
November 27, 2016
bilby commented on the word cockchafer
Right up there in the Most Unhelpful Etymologies category :-/
November 24, 2020