Meaning

1 senses

  1. To move along slowly, drawing one's body up, in the manner of a caterpillar.

Examples

60 sentences

  1. This caterpillar will become a beautiful butterfly.

    Ця гусениця перетвориться на прекрасного метелика. — ChickenKiev

    ruЭта гусеница превратится в прекрасную бабочку. — redscorp

    deDiese Raupe wird ein hübscher Schmetterling werden. — lilygilder

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. My mother hated caterpillars, not to mention snakes.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. A butterfly is a mature caterpillar.

    Метелик - це зріла гусениця. — ChickenKiev

    ruБабочка - это зрелая гусеница. — shanghainese

    deEin Schmetterling ist eine erwachsene Raupe. — MUIRIEL

    CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.

    Гусениця перетворилася на метелика. — ChickenKiev

    ruГусеница превратилась в бабочку. — shanghainese

    deDie Raupe hat sich in einen Schmetterling verwandelt. — human600

    Dejo · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. This caterpillar will turn into a beautiful butterfly.

    Ця гусениця перетвориться в прекрасного метелика. — ChickenKiev

    ruЭта гусеница превратится в красивую бабочку. — Selena777

    deDiese Raupe wird ein schöner Schmetterling werden. — Manfredo

    Denizar · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English catirpel, catirpeller, probably from Old Northern French catepeluse (M

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

caterpillars, caterpillaring, caterpillared, caterpillared
Base formcaterpillar · to caterpillar
3rd person singularcaterpillars
Present participlecaterpillaring
Past simplecaterpillared
Past participlecaterpillared

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theycaterpillar
he, she, itcaterpillars

Past simpleLesson

all personscaterpillared

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave caterpillared
he, she, ithas caterpillared

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill caterpillar

Word family

1 related words
Relatedpillar

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
catercaterercatfishcatgirlcathartic
caterpillar — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto