MOTH • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Moth

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/mɔθ/ Listen

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

... his thought glanced from John Dana to Mr. Pinkham and the Rev. Arthur Langly, both of whom were assiduous visitors at the house. The former had lately taken to accompanying Margaret on the piano with his dismal little flute, and the latter was perpetually making a moth of himself about her ...

— The Stillwater Tragedy • Thomas Bailey Aldrich

... took for truth; the light was joyful and blessed, and of all things to be desired, though it smote the life from one like lightning. She waited alone with faith, watching till it should come,—left alone with this beam glimmering like a moth through darkness!—for thus was a believer, or one who resolved on believing, left in that day, when he turned from the machinery of the Church, and stood alone, searching for God without ...

— Atlantic Monthly Volume 6, No. 34, August, 1860 • Various

... had lost its lightness and elasticity, and seemed to oppress and weigh us down. Presently we saw the dark cloud rise gradually from behind the hills, completely clearing their summits, and then sweeping along until it hung over the valley, in form and appearance like some monstrous night-moth, resting the tips of its enormous wings on the mountains on either side. To our right we still saw the roofs and walls of Quidricovi, apparently ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXLII. Vol. LV. April, 1844 • Various

... had led her from the flat of the delicatessen merchant, through various shabby lairs, into the pension of a vaudeville favorite of prehistoric fame. The house was dilapidated, and the brownstone front had the moth-eaten look ...

— We Can't Have Everything • Rupert Hughes

... to be expected. It cost sixty dollars, and brought only thirty. But this loss was to be preferred to the destruction such an army of moth as it was sending forth, ...

— Trials and Confessions of a Housekeeper • T. S. Arthur

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