Meaning
2 senses(usually)The larval stage of the mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), a species of darkling beetle.
We buy mealworms to supplement our chickens' feed ration, and they do some scratching in the yard to find other bugs too.
мучно́й червьmučnój červʹ
(broadly, informal, sometimes)This or any other larva that looks similar and is found in similar circumstances (i.e., in meal, in flour, in food, in the pantry, in feed, in the feedroom), such as the larva of a mealmoth (flour moth).
Near-synonym: waxworm
They'd seen a few mealmoths and mealworms in recent days, and then they figured out that the cornflakes in the pantry were the source of the problem.
- the larva of beetles of the family Tenebrionidae
Examples
2 sentencesAre there really mealworms that eat styrofoam?
Mealworms are edible for humans and can be grown easily.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
From meal + worm.From meal + worm.
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