boll weevil
noun
: a usually grayish or brown weevil (Anthonomus grandis) that feeds on the squares and bolls of the cotton plant
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Malathion is used widely by farmers, gardeners, and to help eradicate the invasive cotton boll weevil, according to the EPA.
—
Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 20 July 2024
By 1916, the boll weevil infestation had engulfed the entire state, leading to the decimation of nearly two-thirds of Alabama’s cotton crops.
—Dana Shavin, Travel + Leisure, 24 Jan. 2024
White arsenic was a key ingredient for manufacturing boll weevil pesticides.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Oct. 2023
Rice is often grown in fields formerly used for cotton, whose production involved spraying with cacodylic acid (the dimethyl arsenic compound) to kill boll weevil pests, and then with arsenic acid to kill and desiccate the plant prior to mechanical harvesting.
—Julian Tyson, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2015
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Thomas Goodwin Smith, Baltimore Sun, 20 July 2024
By 1916, the boll weevil infestation had engulfed the entire state, leading to the decimation of nearly two-thirds of Alabama’s cotton crops.
—Dana Shavin, Travel + Leisure, 24 Jan. 2024
White arsenic was a key ingredient for manufacturing boll weevil pesticides.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Oct. 2023
Rice is often grown in fields formerly used for cotton, whose production involved spraying with cacodylic acid (the dimethyl arsenic compound) to kill boll weevil pests, and then with arsenic acid to kill and desiccate the plant prior to mechanical harvesting.
—Julian Tyson, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2015
See All Example Sentences for boll weevil
Cite this Entry
“Boll weevil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boll%20weevil. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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