caterpillar
UK/ˈkætəˌpɪlə//ˈkætɚˌpɪlɚ/
caterpillar noun: the larva of a butterfly or moth; leafworm.
Noun
caterpillar (plural caterpillars)
- The larva of a butterfly or moth; leafworm.
- The bird just ate that green caterpillar.
- [T]he fairer the Roſe is, the ſooner it is bitten with Catterpillers; […]1590, T[homas] L[odge], “Alindas Comfort to Perplexed Rosalynd”, in Rosalynde. Euphues Golden Legacie: […], London: […] Thomas Orwin for T. G[ubbin] and John Busbie, →OCLC, folio 13, recto
- A vehicle with a caterpillar track; a crawler.
- A set of subtrees of a tree.
- A rapacious, extortionate person preying upon the community.
- Bristow Castle, which they say is held / By Busbie, Bagot, and their Complices, / The Caterpillers of the Commonwealth, / Which I haue sworne to weed, and plucke away.1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
Verb
caterpillar (third-person singular simple present caterpillars, present participle caterpillaring, simple past and past participle caterpillared)
caterpillar meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
caterpillar in Hindi
- larva of a butterfly or moth
- इल्ली illī, पोका pokā
caterpillar in Tamil
- larva of a butterfly or moth
- கம்பளிப்பூச்சி kampaḷippūcci
caterpillar in Marathi
- larva of a butterfly or moth
- अळी aḷī
caterpillar in Urdu
- larva of a butterfly or moth
- سنڈی sunḍī, پوکا pokā
More languagesFewer languages
- caterpillar in Bengali
- শুঁয়াপোকা śũẏapōka
- caterpillar in Telugu
- గొంగళిపురుగు goṅgaḷipurugu
- caterpillar in Malayalam
- കമ്പിളിപ്പുഴു kampiḷippuḻu, ശലഭപ്പുഴു śalabhappuḻu
- caterpillar in Kannada
- ಕಂಬಳಿಹುಳ kambaḷihuḷa
- caterpillar in Punjabi
- ਸੁੰਡ suṇḍ, ਸੁੰਡੀ suṇḍī
- caterpillar in Gujarati
- ઇયળ iyaḷ
- caterpillar in Odia
- କ୍ଯ଼ାଟର୍ପିଲର, କ୍ଯ଼ାଟର୍ପିଲର୍, କ୍ଯ଼ାଟର୍ପିଲାର୍
- caterpillar in Assamese
- পলু polu, বিছা bisa
- caterpillar in Nepali
- क्याटरपिलर, केटरपिलर, क्याटरपिलरिङ
- caterpillar in Arabic
- يَرَقَة yaraqa, دُودَة الْفَرَاشَة dūdat al-farāša, يَسْرُوع yasrūʕ
- caterpillar in Malay
- beluncas
- caterpillar in Indonesian
- ulat bulu, ulat
- caterpillar in Persian
- کرم صدپا kerm-e sadpâ
- caterpillar in Thai
- หนอนผีเสื้อ nɔ̌ɔn pǐi-sʉ̂ʉa, ด้วง dûuang, บุ้ง bûng, ร่าน râan
- caterpillar in Vietnamese
- sâu, sâu róm, sâu bướm
- caterpillar in Myanmar
- ပိုးတောင့်တဲ pui:taung.tai:
Examples of caterpillar in a sentence
- The caterpillars of the rice moth feed on dry plantstuffs such as seeds.
- In addition to being the obligate food source for monarch caterpillars, milkweeds also provide abundant nectar for the adult butterflies.
- Her wings were too small to carry the new pet caterpillar home for her mother.
Forms of caterpillar
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | caterpillars |
| alternative form (obsolete) | caterpiller |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | caterpillars |
| present participle | caterpillaring |
| past participle | caterpillared |
| past | caterpillared |
Origin of caterpillar
From Middle English catirpel, catirpeller, probably from Old Northern French catepeluse (Modern French chatte + pileuse (“hairy cat”)), from Late Latin catta + pilōsa. The sense "rapacious, extortionate person" arose by association with obsolete piller (“plunderer”). See Modern Norman cattepeleuse. Displaced native kaleworm, from Middle English cowle worm, cale worme (“caterpillar, corn weevil”), from Old English cawelwyrm, cawelwurm (“caterpillar”).
Words formed from caterpillar
- caterpillar catcher
- Caterpillar Club
- caterpillar eater
- caterpillared
- caterpillar fungus
- caterpillar hunter
- caterpillarization
- caterpillarize
- caterpillarlike
- caterpillar roll
- caterpillar searcher
- caterpillar skiing
- caterpillar track
- caterpillar tree
- forest caterpillar hunter
- hog caterpillar
- pseudocaterpillar
Phrases with caterpillar
- sea caterpillar
- puss caterpillar
- slug caterpillar
- tent caterpillar
- caterpillar rolls
- caterpillar trees
- zebra caterpillar
- caterpillar eaters
- caterpillar tracks
- looper caterpillar
- alfalfa caterpillar
- caterpillar hunters
14 more phrasesFewer phrases
- lobster caterpillar
- monarch caterpillar
- caterpillar catchers
- caterpillar funguses
- caterpillar searchers
- Christmas caterpillar
- vegetable caterpillar
- Polyphemus caterpillar
- red-humped caterpillar
- saddleback caterpillar
- salt-marsh caterpillar
- woolly bear caterpillar
- eastern tent caterpillar
- processionary caterpillar
Questions about caterpillar
- What does caterpillar mean?
- Caterpillar means the larva of a butterfly or moth; leafworm.
- What is caterpillar in Hindi?
- Caterpillar in Hindi is इल्ली (illī), पोका (pokā). See Caterpillar meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is caterpillar?
- Caterpillar can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce caterpillar?
- Caterpillar is pronounced /ˈkætəˌpɪlə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of caterpillar?
- The plural of caterpillar is caterpillars.
Words near caterpillar in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: caterpillar (page history and authors); caterpillar (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); caterpillar (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-caterpillar.ogg.
Cite this entry: “caterpillar.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/caterpillar. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.