cockchafer
Meanings
Plural: cockchafers
Noun
- any of various large European beetles destructive to vegetation as both larvae and adult
- Any of the large European beetles from the genus Melolontha that are destructive to vegetation.
- Any of various other similar beetles, such as of the genera Acrossidius, Cyphochilus, Rhopaea, etc.
Origin / Etymology
From cock (“male bird”) + chafer (“beetle”). The Oxford English Dictionary speculates that the name may relate to a resemblance of antennae to coxcomb, or to the beetle’s size. Compare French hanneton (“cockchafer”), ultimately from Frankish *hanō (“rooster”). Attested from the late seventeenth century.
Synonyms
doodlebug, May beetle, May bug, Melolontha melolontha
Scrabble Score: 26
cockchafer is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordcockchafer is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cockchafer is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 28
cockchafer is a valid Words With Friends word