cock·chaf·er

(kŏk′chā′fər)

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.

[Possibly cock + chafer.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cockchafer

(ˈkɒkˌtʃeɪfə)

(Animals) any of various Old World scarabaeid beetles, esp Melolontha melolontha of Europe, whose larvae feed on crops and grasses. Also called: May beetle or May bug

[C18: from cock¹ + chafer]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cock•chaf•er

(ˈkɒkˌtʃeɪ fər)

n.

any of certain scarab beetles, esp. the European species, Melolontha melolontha, which is destructive to forest trees.

[1685–95; cock¹ (with reference to its size) + chafer]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

cockchafer - any of various large European beetles destructive to vegetation as both larvae and adult

May beetle, May bug, Melolontha melolontha

melolonthid beetle - any of various beetles of the family (or subfamily) Melolonthidae

genus Melolontha, Melolontha - a genus of Melolonthidae

Translations

cockchafer

[ˈkɒkˌtʃeɪfəʳ] N → abejorro m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cockchafer

n → Maikäfer m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cockchafer

[ˈkɒkˌtʃeɪfəʳ] n → maggiolino

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

A great cockchafer came flying past; he caught sight of Thumbelina, and in a moment had put his arms round her slender waist, and had flown off with her to a tree.

The cockchafer who had stolen her knew this very well; but when he heard all the ladies saying she was ugly, he began to think so too, and would not keep her; she might go wherever she liked.

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The nightingales burst into song, a cockchafer knocked against him and crept up the back of his neck.

The cockchafers flew clumsily about, falling to the ground when they collided with anything.

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A cockchafer came droning over the hedge and past us.

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"The dolt," said Jehan Frollo of the Mill, to his friend Robin Poussepain (for the two students had followed the culprit, as was to have been expected), "he understands no more than a cockchafer shut up in a box!"

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A cockchafer darting by close to my ear with a loud hum sends a shiver through me, partly of pleasure at the reminder of past summers, and partly of fear lest he should get caught in my hair.

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'"Well then, my dear, I'm afraid he'll never come to the title," said my uncle, looking coolly at the young gentleman as he stood fixed up against the wall, in the cockchafer fashion that I have described.

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Glancing at Jeremiah, Clennam saw in his very gaiters that his attention was closely directed to them, though he stood leaning against the wall scraping his jaw, and pretended to listen to Flora as she held forth in a most distracting manner on a chaos of subjects, in which mackerel, and Mr F.'s Aunt in a swing, had become entangled with cockchafers and the wine trade.

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Then there were the moths--tiger moths, yellow moths, and horrid cockchafers. Louisa, my sister, would have the window open.

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In very tender years, when he still wore a lace border under his outdoor cap, he was often observed peeping through the bars of a gate and making minatory gestures with his small forefinger while he scolded the sheep with an inarticulate burr, intended to strike terror into their astonished minds; indicating thus early that desire for mastery over the inferior animals, wild and domestic, including cockchafers, neighbors' dogs, and small sisters, which in all ages has been an attribute of so much promise for the fortunes of our race.

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