Word.ws English Dictionary

terebrant

Syllables: te·re·brant/ˈtɛɹəbɹənt/US/ˈtɛɹəbɹənt/

terebrant adjective: of an insect: that bores holes; specifically, of the suborder Terebrantia of thrips which bore using their ovipositors.

terebrant: of an insect: that bores holes; specifically, of the suborder Terebrantia of thrips which bore...
Image: Alton N. Sparks, Jr., University of Georgia, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

terebrant (not comparable)

  1. Of an insect: that bores holes; specifically, of the suborder Terebrantia of thrips which bore using their ovipositors.
    • The other terebrant hymenoptera feed in the same state either on larvæ, caterpillars particularly, of which they gnaw the interior, without attacking the essential principle of life at first, or on nymphs or eggs of insects, bodies in which they have been deposited under this last form by the...1832, Edward Griffith, Edward Pidgeon, “Supplement on the Hymenoptera”, in Baron Cuvier [i.e., Georges Cuvier], translated by [Edward Griffith], The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with Its...
  2. Of pain: resembling the sensation of being bored into or pierced.

Noun

terebrant (plural terebrants)

  1. An insect that bores (“makes holes”); a borer; specifically, one belonging to the Terebrantia suborder of thrips which bore using their ovipositors.

terebrant meaning in Tamil

terebrant in Tamil

துளைக்கும் பண்பு, துளைத்தல் ஓட்டையிடல்

Forms of terebrant

pluralterebrants

Origin of terebrant

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Latin terebrantem, the accusative masculine or feminine singular of terebrāns, the present active participle of terebrō (“to bore through, perforate, pierce”), from terebra (“instrument for boring, borer, gimlet”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Terebra is derived from ter(ō) (“to rub; to wear away”) (from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn”)) + -bra (suffix denoting an instrument, forming nouns). The noun is either derived from the adjective, or is a back-formation from Terebrantia (“suborder of thrips”).

Questions about terebrant

What does terebrant mean?
Terebrant means of an insect: that bores holes; specifically, of the suborder Terebrantia of thrips which bore using their ovipositors.
What is terebrant in Tamil?
Terebrant in Tamil is துளைக்கும் பண்பு, துளைத்தல் ஓட்டையிடல். See Terebrant meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is terebrant?
Terebrant can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce terebrant?
Terebrant is pronounced /ˈtɛɹəbɹənt/ (UK).

Words near terebrant in the dictionary

  1. terebinthinous
  2. terebinths
  3. Terebovlia
  4. terebra
  5. terebrae
  6. terebrant
  7. terebrantian
  8. terebrantians
  9. terebrants
  10. terebras
  11. terebrate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: terebrant (page history and authors); terebrant (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-terebrant.wav.

Cite this entry: “terebrant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/terebrant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.