caterpillar
English
A caterpillar—the larva of a butterfly or moth.
Alternative forms
- caterpiller (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English catirpel, catirpeller, probably from Old Northern French catepeluse (Modern French chatte + pileuse (“hairy cat”)), from Late Latin catta + pilōsa.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkætəˌpɪlə/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈkætɚˌpɪlɚ/, /ˈkætəˌpɪlɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
caterpillar (plural caterpillars)
- The larva of a butterfly or moth; leafworm
- The bird just ate that green caterpillar.
- A vehicle with a caterpillar track; a crawler
- (mathematics) A set of subtrees of a tree
Derived terms
- caterpillar catcher
- Caterpillar Club
- caterpillar eater
- caterpillar fungus
- caterpillar hunter
- caterpillar roll
- caterpillar searcher
- caterpillar skiing
- caterpillar track
- caterpillar tree
- eastern tent caterpillar
- looper caterpillar
- processionary caterpillar
- pseudocaterpillar
- puss caterpillar
- saddleback caterpillar
- salt-marsh caterpillar
- sea caterpillar
- tent caterpillar
Translations
larva of a butterfly
|
vehicle with a caterpillar track
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
Swedish
Declension
| Declension of caterpillar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | caterpillar | caterpillarn | caterpillrar | caterpillrarna |
| Genitive | caterpillars | caterpillarns | caterpillrars | caterpillrarnas |
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