noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of various insects of the family Pseudococcidae, which secrete a powdery wax and are pests of fruit trees.
2. 2
   scalelike plant-eating insect coated with a powdery waxy secretion; destructive especially of fruit trees wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

mealy bug

Etymology

From mealy + bug, from the appearance of the powder which resembles meal (“flour”).

Related phrases

mealybug destroyer

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.